Wine in Parliment
Democratic Alliance MP from KwaZulu-Natal, Mike Ellis, a parliamentary veteran of 17 years, saw it all: all the transitions Parliament made as it moved from the era of PW Botha to that of FW de Klerk to democracy under Nelson Mandela and now Thabo Mbeki."A visit to Parliament," he recalls, "especially for lunch in the parliamentary dining room, used to be quite an occasion. Members of the public loved it because there was a real sense of style and substance to the event. It was a big deal to be invited to parliament.
"There would be five courses, different wines offered with each, silver service throughout - sherry beforehand and liqueurs afterward.
"The best thing about it was that the winelist was regarded as one of the best in Cape Town - as good as the Mount Nelson Hotel's, for example. You could choose from some of the best wines that South Africa had to offer. It was a real showcase."
Ellis says "regrettably" this is no longer the case. "Much of the splendour of the parliamentary dining room has disappeared. Those of us who have been around for a long time get little joy out of the dining room now.
"I must stress that there's absolutely nothing wrong with the quality - it's perfectly acceptable, but there's no refinement left. It's pretty basic fare."
His comments are echoed by Sheila Camerer, also a Member of Parliament of 17 years' standing, formerly of the National Party, now also a DA member. Her husband Alex owns and runs Welgegund, a Wellington wine farm planted to Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
"As the wife of a wine farmer I'm somewhat surprised by the same old stuff we are served."
She says the parliamentary catering committee used to include MPs - she sat on it from 1994 to 1999. "We were going to set up a whole winetasting scene - getting some of the local winemakers in to offer parliamentarians tastings … but I was withdrawn from the catering committee around that time. I don't know what happened to the winetasting initiative…"
For Robin Moodliar, Section Manager: Catering for Parliament for the past five years, barely a day goes by without his department having to cater for a function of some sort. It could be a visiting foreign delegation, refreshments for various committees or meetings or a luncheon for the Speaker of the House. His background is in the hotel industry, specifically in the food and beverage field, and his CV includes stints at Sun City, the Mount Nelson, the old President, Hohenort and Alphen Hotels and the Cape Sun.
"You might laugh because some of the wines we have here are really cheap. But that's because most people in Parliament don't drink wine. There's just no demand for it. I serve mainly fruit juices and mineral water.
"Obviously I can only speak for the past five years. We don't buy wine that is priced more than R31 a bottle - actually it's a maximum of R25 for white and R31 for red."
Moodliar says when he was hired in 1999, Parliament had seven bars. Now there are two.
It took a phone call to establish exactly what wines were available in the Parliamentary precinct.
"You see - even my guys in the kitchen don't know what wines we have," he jokes. "We don't have a cellar any more - just a small storage area in the kitchen."
He recites the list - Bovlei unwooded Chardonnay (R18), Bovlei Shiraz (R25), Bovlei Bukettraube (R14) and Bovlei Cabernet Sauvignon (R25); Zevenwacht Sauvignon Blanc (R40); Zevenwacht Bouquet Blanc (R26); Swartland Bukettraube (R15,50) and Durbanville Hills (no wine specified).
"Cost is definitely a factor and like any other business, we have to stick to our budget."
When asked specifically about wines served to high-profile foreign delegations Moodliar responds that he has exceeded his budget slightly to buy the Zevenwacht Sauvignon Blanc (R40 a bottle) and the mystery Durbanville Hills.
"That was for a recent Chinese delegation - but as you can see, I ordered wine for that lunch and we have a few bottles left."
So Parliament doesn't try to showcase the very best South Africa has to offer at high-profile events? "No - never. When I have to project South Africa's image, we use Thandi wines - from the empowerment project."
Moodliar recounts tales from long-serving barmen. "My barmen tell me that there used to be "larney" wines, dessert wines, liqueurs and all that - but that was 10 years or more ago. Up until a year ago I was still getting rid of old things like ginger liqueur."
He's a great one for pithy quotes: "The only cocktail we serve in Parliament is fruit cocktail…"
He recounts the story of the late Minister Steve Tshwete, of the sport and police portfolios, who brought the air force helicopter crews to Parliament after their heroics saved flood victims from the treetops in Mozambique.
"Minister Tshwete said we should just bring those boys whatever they wanted…and they were thirsty!"
But Moodliar says this was years ago and comments that the newer parliamentarians prefer "a healthy lifestyle - and drinking doesn't feature".
Apparently the only person ever to complain about the quality of wine in the past five years was Jannie Momberg, now ambassador to Greece - and related to the Mombergs of Middelvlei.
Firebrand politician Patricia de Lille, leader of the Independent Democrats, says while she is mindful of the need to cut costs it is equally important that South Africa showcase what its wine farms are capable of - particularly to foreign delegations, something Camerer echoes.
"I'm all for parliament trying to keep costs down - and there are a lot of really nice wines available at the price points mentioned, but there should be a VIP list, at least for foreign delegations. I'm surprised they don't have one. I can understand not having top wines just for parliamentarians after committee meetings and the like, but I certainly think that Parliament should have a cellar and that really good wines should be available for high-profile functions."
In her typically straight-talking way De Lille says she is disappointed with the "lack of choice" of wines in Parliament.
It's not as if our elected leaders would sit and prop up Parliament's two bars either - there's a strict curfew. They close exactly one hour after the final session. So should a sitting end at 6pm, by 7pm the bar will cease operating.
"Obviously I only have control over the actions of my party, so I make sure that when the Independent Democrats entertain we source good wines," says De Lille. "It definitely makes a difference to the relationship and the ambience when you have good wines such as Meerlust and Thelema."
It gets worse… The official policy of no freebies in Parliament extends to wine samples. So even if some well-meaning wine farmer offered his produce out of concern for the state of the national political palate he would be rejected outright.
"If I accept a sample range of wine from a rep, for example, it would have to be entered into the parliamentary register and I'd have to sign in every single bottle. It's such a bother that I don't do it," says Moodliar.
"And I really don't buy enough wine to justify a cellar.
I don't even buy direct from wine farms or go through reps.
I buy from a liquor store. If, for a function of 400 people, I open 10 bottles of white and 10 bottles of red, at least half will come back undrunk. There's just no demand for wine in Parliament."
A MISSION AND A HALF
WINE goes to great lengths to get the story. Fiona McDonald reports on her first visit to the seat of power. Parliament. The place where our elected leaders ponder weighty matters of state, make laws and dictate the direction this proud nation of ours takes. It's also where they debate whether our best interests are served by the purchase of multi-million dollar fighter jets, submarines and corvettes; whether anti-retroviral therapy should be rolled out to the people; or even if party politicians and MPs should be named for their involvement in the recent Parliamentary travel inquiry.
My quest was ostensibly simple: WINE magazine wanted to know what the Parliamentary wine list was like and what visitors could expect. If only the mission had been that simple…
My first visit to Parliament was bedevilled with problems from the outset. There were no visitors' parking slots available - so I had to drive around four city blocks three times, trying to find an open bay. Because I so seldom venture into the heart of Cape Town, I don't possess the requisite parking meter card - and there weren't any of those handy informal parking attendants around. They'd all been vamoosed out of the CBD - sorry! Central Improvement District - by the City Police.
I eventually found both a bay and a sanctioned - and nicely uniformed - official parking attendant who issued me with a parking card while relieving my wallet of R35 for the pleasure.
After walking through the requisite scanning machines for body and handbag I was finally in the Parliamentary Visitors' Centre. As I tried to catch the eye of one of the six staff members chatting cheerfully behind the counter, happily ignoring members of the public attempting to check into Parliament, I noticed the Parliamentary Shop.
It's a lovely blonde wood room, complete with glass door and downlighter-lit space, with lots of nooks for displaying items - memorabilia of your visit to the very seat of South African power. Problem is … there was not a single item inside … except for a kettle, a few mugs, a tin of Ricoffy, a few SA Police jackets slung over cupboard doors and a pile of Hewlett Packard computer boxes stacked in the corner!
"THIS is the public face of Parliament?" I asked myself.
Then I got lost trying to find which building I was supposed to go to it (turned out to be the obvious one … with the really big pillars out front). Once inside, I had to go through another security check, more x-rays of self and handbag - and finally made it to the right office … only to be stood up!
My 2.30pm meeting with Robin Moodliar, Section Manager: Catering, had been bumped in favour of a disciplinary hearing - except I wasn't told. It took another week of phone calls to set up another meeting. At least this time I knew the drill…
