As ever, the South Africans can provide some inspiration, so dust down the BBQ and try some of our fabulous recipes.

We have 20 rosé and tapas wine books to give away. Simply send us your summer recipe ideas and you could win one of our rosé and tapas books*. Your recipe could also appear on our Facebook page.

There’s a huge range of different styles of Rosé wines of the market and below are just a few South African wines for you to try:

Full bodied style

Thandi Shiraz Rosé – £8.29

Wolftrap Rosé – £7.99

Fairview Rosé – £8.79

Lighter style

Boschendal Rosé – £7.79

Newton Johnson Felicite dry Rosé – 8.80

Waterkloof Circumstance Rosé – £9.70

Sparkling

Graham Beck Rosé NV – £13.9

J.C. Le Roux La Vallée Rosé NV – £10.19

Boschendal Le Grand Pavillon Brut Rosé NV – £10.99

All these rosé wines and many more are available from SA Wines Online.

* Terms and conditions:

1. This competition is open to all UK residents over the legal drinking age in the UK, other than employees of Wines of South Africa and its associated companies, their respective families and agents or anyone directly connected to the prize draw. 2. No purchase necessary. 3. Entries submitted through third parties or agents will not be eligible. 4. No cash alternative to the prize will be offered and the prize is not transferable. 5. Wines of South Africa reserves the right to substitute the prize with one of equivalent value. 6. The winner will be selected by Wines of South Africa by 20^th April 2012 and will be notified by e-mail or telephone. 8. The promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered in to. 10. The prize consists of one rosé and tapas book. 11. Entrants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. 12. The winners surname and county of residence will be available by sending an SAE to Wines of South Africa, Thornton House, Thornton Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 4NG  after the 27^th April 2012.

We are currently in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight. Between February 27^th and March 11^th, the Fairtrade Foundation is encouraging everyone to get involved with Fairtrade brands and asking consumers to consider purchasing products that carry the well known Fairtrade emblem.

In 2010, 19 million glasses of Fairtrade wine were enjoyed in theUKandSouth Africais one of the largest Fairtrade wine producing countries in the world. With this in mind, we thought it would be appropriate for us to highlight one or two great Fairtrade wines for you to try over the next few days.

Sainsbury’s Chenin Blanc, Taste the Difference – £5.99 (Offer price)

“This deliciously zingy and fruity wine is packed with the mouth watering flavours of tropical fruit and citrus zest. This wine is the culmination of a dream held by the Bosman and Appollis families, who have farmed side by side for generations. With this wine, their aim is to capture the diversity ofSouth Africa’s natural beauty and through Fairtrade reinvest their development of their community.”

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp

The Co-operative Fairtrade Sparkling Brut or Sparkling Rosé South Africa – £6.39 (Offer ends 20th March 2012)

http://www.co-operative.coop/food/ethics/Ethical-trading/Fairtrade/
Fairhills Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot – £28.44 per case (Offer price. Equivalent to £4.74 per bottle)

“Soft and spicy Fairtrade wine fromSouth Africa. Full of jammy and black pepper flavours with a smooth elegant finish.”

http://www.tesco.com/wine/product/details/default.aspx?searchBox=south+african+fairtrade&id=265108859

Fairhills Shiraz / Pinotage 2010/11 Western Cape, South Africa – £61.44 for a case of 12 (Offer ends 20th March 2012 – equivalent to £5.12 per bottle)

Medium-bodied and velvety-smooth, this Fairtrade South African blend is bursting with ripe red berry fruit flavour with a sprinkling of black pepper and spice. Exclusive to Waitrose.

http://www.waitrosewine.com/230944212/Product.aspx

You can buy Fairtrade wines in most major retailers and selected wine merchants. Or you can savour a glass in one of 137 Marston’s pubs across theUK. So go on, select a delicious South African Fairtrade wine and raise your glass to Fairtrade Fortnight.

Boschendal Le Grand Pavillon Brut Rose (MCC) NV – Was £10.99 Now £8.75

Waterkloof Circumstance Cape Coral Mourvedre Rosé 2010 – Was £9.69 Now £7.25

Simonsig Brut Rosé 2009 – Was £10.49 Now £8.75

Groot Constantia Blanc de Noir 2010 – Was £10.00 Now £7.50

Order today (Thursday 9^th February) for the best chance of getting your wines before Valentine’s Day.  Offer ends 14^th February 2012.

Every farm must decide when the optimum time to pick grapes is and the viticulturists will be checking the vines obsessively to ensure the best possible conditions are reached. Often the harvest begins inland, where vineyards are slightly warmer than those on the coast, and the grapes ripen earlier. Varieties such as the tricky Pinot Noir are usually picked first, commonly for sparkling wine production, where high acid levels are needed.

The South Africans are excited about the 2012 vintage quality, the size of the harvest is expected to be similar to last year, weather conditions have been mild to cool since spring, with some warmer weather in January, ensuring lovely ripe grapes. It will be a while yet but we’re looking forward to seeing what our spirited, creative and probably very tired winemakers are conjuring up.

Our counterparts in South Africa will be heading to the beach and firing up the braai, while we’ll be admiring our new slippers and putting on a Christmas jumper but we’ll all be popping corks on some delicious South African sparking wines.

 In South Africa, the term Methodé Cap Classique (MCC) denotes a wine that is made with a second fermentation in the bottle, to get the bubbles. This is the way Champagne is made and is considered the gold standard in SA. A few great examples from South Africa are Pongracz Brut, available at Morrisons for £14.99; Graham Beck Brut, £12.99 in Waitrose; or Kaapse Vonkel Brut Simonsig Estate, £11.50 at Lea & Sandeman.

We had a few new additions this year. One of which was a selection of varietal tasting tables. These were represented by wines from the Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Shiraz associations, and a rather opulent Cabernet Sauvignon selection. The tasting tables allowed visitors to taste by variety, giving them a feel for
how diverse these varietals can be can be when grown in South Africa.

Another new addition was a selection of Fairtrade wines. The producers came out in full force displaying some of their wonderful wines, spreading awareness about the good work they do.
For more information please visit:

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/default.aspx

http://www.co-operative.coop/food/ethics/Ethical-trading/Fairtrade/Our-fairtrade-products/Wine/

Also new to this years event was the South African Macadamia Growers Association (SAMAC). These guys did a fantastic job promoting their tasty macadamias. Unfortunately they are not available in the UK yet, but keep your eyes peeled, they are on the way! In the meantime to find out more about SAMAC please visit:

http://www.samac.org.za/

The Biltong went down a hit, as always. This was not a surprise as our supplier ‘Biltong Place’ has been voted ‘best overall Biltong’ for the past 2 years now by The South African Newspaper. If you would like to order some of this scrummy Biltong please visit:

http://www.biltongplace.co.uk/

We would also like to congratulate our three winners on the night. They each went home with a pack of macadamia nuts, a hamper full for South African goodies and a bottle of South African wine.

If you wanted to order some of the fantastic wines you tasted during the evening, please visit SA Wines Online to stock up your cellar:

http://www.sawinesonline.com/

Alternatively If you’ve got a taste for Vergenoegd Port style wines or the Runner Duck White wine please send an email to Calum at:

info@newarkwines.com

In all we have 35 different producers and associations showcasing over 250 wines. Wine makers will be on hand to talk you through their wines and you will be able to place your orders for the wines you love on the night.

We will be running competitions with fantastic prizes to be won every hour, on the hour. You will able to sample the finest South African Macadamia nuts along with the best biltong in London. Definitely not an evening to be missed.

Please click here to purchase your Cape Wine Europe ticket here:

http://blog.winesofsa.com/events/cape-wine-europe-11th-october/

Date: Tuesday 11^th October

Venue: Conference Centre, Brompton Hall, Earls Court, SW5 9TA

Time: 18:00 – 21:00

Price: £12.50 per ticket, purchased in advance. (£15 per ticket on the door).

And what a week to remind all those that enjoy South African wine about the importance of the environment and the relationship wine has with it. A reminder of how much is being done, (and how much there is also still to do) to protect the land that is so precious to our industry. After all much of the land used for wine production in the Cape sits in the middle of the Cape Floral Kingdom, a world heritage site that has more plant species located here than in the whole of the northern hemisphere.

This is why the wine industry works in partnership with the BWI (Biodiversity & Wine Initiative) to minimise further loss of this precious habitat and focus on setting land aside for protection.  Indeed over 126 000 hectares of natural area have been conserved by BWI producers in less than four years. This means that the South African wine industry’s conservation footprint is well in excess of its current vineyard footprint of 102 000 hectares.

At home you can also do your bit to help out the Cape Floral Kingdom and the environment in South Africa by keeping an eye out for our new sustainability seal. From the 2010 vintage our seal guarantees integrity and sustainability. Providing good wine, but not at the expense of the environment. At the moment we have 60% of wine brands signed up, and by the end of 2011 we hope this figure will reach 85%.

For more information about what the seal means, please check out our video on the Sustainable Wine South Africa website at:

http://www.swsa.co.za

The pioneering work done by the South African wine industry is supported by the WWF, and you can see what they think about our partnership with the Conservation sector by visiting the following link:

www.wwf.org.za/what_we_do/outstanding_places/fynbos/biodiversity___wine_initiative/

After checking weather reports all week with the rather naïve hope we might actually have good bank holiday barbeque or braai weather, I have discovered that the met office have in fact predicted thunderstorms. Great!

My response to this is to put aside all thought of Braai-ing and focus on some wholesome indoor South African cuisine, washed down with a fantastically opulent bottle of South African red.

The dish I have chosen is the Bobotie.  For those not familiar, a rich spiced lamb or beef mince based dish with egg topping that has been enjoyed in the Cape since the 17^th century. Quick and easy to throw together, from ingredients that are readily available, this dish is something rich and warming for those wet and cold summer days! I found a fantastic looking recipe which I am going to try at:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/609735

For the wine, you will need a hearty South African red with body enough to match this dish.  There are plenty of retailers offering wines that will work (ask your local wine merchant for suggestions) or perhaps check out Majestic. They have a few deals this month on South African Reds…. I recommend grabbing a couple of bottles of ‘The Caracal 2006 Neethlingshof, Stellenbosch’ (£6 off when you buy 2)*. Or there is always the Kanonkop Pinotage 2008/2009 Stellenbosch (£6 off when you but 2)*.

Check these (and more) South African Wine deals out at:

http://www.majestic.co.uk/find/keyword-is-south+africa/psi-is-1

If we do get some good weather this weekend then these wines are still very braai friendly…. However I won’t be holding my breath!

*Offers end 29^th of August.

http://www.wosa.co.za/sa/news_article.php?id=1506

The criticism we have is that the study is not representative of the South African wine industry which has lead the way in improving conditions on farms. HRW interviewed only 85 current farm workers and 32 former farm workers, a “sample” identified by unions and NGOs. The respondents came from a total of 60 farms of which 20 were wine farms. There are over 3600 wine farms in the Western Cape.

South Africa has one of the largest numbers of Fairtrade accredited wine farms in the world, and the wine industry has worked exceptionally hard to reverse the wrongs of the past and ensure the dignity of their workforce. There are numerous examples of wine farms that empower their workers and offer opportunities, not only for those working on the farm, but their families as well.

HRW has not released the details of those farms that are guilty of illegal and inhumane treatment of their workers. This report, therefore, has the potential to damage the whole industry by tarring everyone with the same brush.

Having said that, one abuse is one too many and the wine industry has called on the Government to partner with them to accelerate reform. As Su Birch, our CEO, said: “Let me make it very clear: we condemn out of hand any and all human rights abuses on wine farms. Our disappointment in the bias of the report is in no way an indication of our support for inhumane practices. It expresses our concern that trade and consumers all over the world could become alienated from South African wines. We call on Government to partner the wine industry in accelerating reform and in rooting out problems.”

Please also read the articles highlighted below from some retailers in the UK who have visited a number of wine farms in South Africa and their views about the conditions on our wine farms. As you will read, their experiences are quite different to those painted by the HRW report and recent media articles.

http://societygrapevine.com/2011/08/statement-on-hrw-ripe-with-abuse-report-on-south-african-fruit-and-wine-farms/

http://www.shjoneswines.com/south-african-wines-in-the-press/