30 years of wine enthusiasm

Attendees of the first Cape Winemakers Guild meeting left to right: Etienne le Riche, Honorary Member Professor Joel van Wyk, Braam van Velden, Peter Finlayson, Achim von Arnim, Jan Coetzee, Kevin Arnold, Founding Chairman Billy Hofmeyr and Walter Finlayson. Kevin, Jan, Etienne, Peter and Braam remain active members of the Guild today.

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Arnold, Coetzee, Le Riche, Finlayson and Van Velden remain active members of the Guild today and will celebrate 30 years of winemaking excellence, innovation and benchmarking on 24 August 2012.

Wine lovers can be part of the celebration by attending the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Showcase in Cape Town on Thursday 23 August and in Johannesburg on Thursday 30 August, when members of the Guild present the wines that will go under the hammer at this year's Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction on Saturday 6 October 2012.

Through the years

At the time of the Guild's establishment, the large conglomerates, KWV, Stellenbosch Farmers Winery and Gilbeys, dominated the wine industry and South Africa was immersed in a period of isolation and sanctions. Kevin Arnold, appointed secretary at the Guild's first formal meeting, recalls that during that time, few wines were exported and South African wines did not enjoy international acclaim. Imported wines were also hard to come by and only a select few had the privilege of owning a private wine collection.

The establishment of the Guild gave independent winemakers a collective voice and opportunity to change the status quo. As a result, stringent membership criteria were adopted restricting membership to independent winemakers who were wholly involved in the vineyards, winemaking and bottling as well as marketing their own wines themselves.

Keen to encourage exports and fill its empty containers, Safmarine became the Guild's first sponsor; helping members to ship their wines to the UK through the London based marketing company, Southern Hemisphere Wines. Guild wines were even showcased at the London Trade Fair during the early years. At the 1990 International Wine and Spirit Competition, eight Guild wines were awarded gold medals, the highest number attained by any one South African organisation participating in this prestigious competition at the time. In addition, the Guild brought home the Packaging Trophy for its Auction wine label.

Guild members have always been at the forefront of innovation. They have introduced small oak barrels, the making of champion port-style wines, the establishment of Méthode Cap Classique and the creation of Bordeaux-style and Cape blends, the opening up of new, cooler wine regions, improvements in plant material and the introduction of sustainable farming and environmentally responsible wines.

Auctions drive success

The first Guild Auction took place in September 1985 in Rosebank, Johannesburg, in association with Sotheby's with seasoned wine auctioneer David Molyneux-Berry who would preside over the first seven Guild Auctions, all held in Johannesburg, tasked with selling the wines. Walter Finlayson, who was manager of the Guild's first six auctions, recalls the nervous anticipation leading up to that first auction and describes the bidding process as "very exciting." Renowned auctioneer, Stephan Welz teamed up with Sotheby's to host the auction in 1988. Nedbank American Express sponsored the last two Johannesburg auctions in 1990 and 1991.

Back then, the preceding auction week created a great sense of excitement, with a "family-like" atmosphere as families played golf and attended the Stephan Welz dinner, drawing great interest from winemakers and local residents. Today still, the preceding auction week creates a hive of activity with the Guild Sports Day where the public can join members for a game of golf or boules or attend dinners with the winemakers at winery restaurants.

In 1992, the Guild Auction moved to Cape Town under the management of Robin Grier, late father of longstanding Guild member, Jeff Grier, with well-known South African wine personality, Dave Hughes, conducting the auction. For the next five years, the Michael James Organisation took charge of the auction before handing over the gavel to the Guild's current auctioneer, Henré Hablutzel of Hofmeyr Mills in 1998.

1996 saw the start of a 17-year association with Nedbank, which became the official sponsor of the Cape Winemakers Guild and its Auction. It was not until 2000 that the Guild changed its name, under the chairmanship of Carl Schultz, from the Cape Independent Winemakers Guild to Cape Winemakers Guild. This opened the door to prominent winemakers employed by the larger organisations to become members of the Guild. Carl recalls how the lifting of sanctions in the post-democracy years brought about a new buoyancy in the market and the word "independent" began to lose its value as trading opened up.

In the 1990s, which heralded major transformation and the end of sanctions against South Africa, international buyers began showing an interest in the Guild Auction and by 1999, 50% of all the auction purchases came from overseas buyers. Today the interest from local buyers exceeds the international contingent with 70% of the total auction sales of over R5-million going to local buyers in 2011.

Membership attracts new generation, founders continue

CWG members

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The new millennium saw the Cape Winemakers Guild evolve into an association with newfound energy, fervour and business acumen to raise the bar in South African winemaking. The name change and new admission criteria heralded a new generation of young winemakers into the Guild bringing new expertise and perspectives into the organisation. During the first decade of the newly constituted Cape Winemakers Guild, the membership grew by 80%.

The new Guild logo, the iconic key, gave the Guild wines a unique brand identity and the appointment of a business advisor in 2004 created a solid business platform for the Guild.

Over the past three decades some of the original stalwarts have reached a stage in their careers, where they are no longer at the coalface in the wineries but continue to make a crucial contribution as respected authorities to the industry as a whole.

To ensure that this valuable expertise and knowledge is safeguarded within the Guild, provision was made at the end of 2011 for an additional membership category of Technical Member. This enables members who no longer fulfil the requirements of the Producing Membership category to remain active members of the Guild even though they will no longer submit wines to the annual Guild Auction.

Acknowledging its trailblazers is enshrined in the very fabric of the Guild, whose list of honorary members includes Francois Naude, Norma Ratcliffe, Johann Krige, Walter Finlayson and Lynne Sherriff.

Protégé Programme

2012 CWG Proteges (L - R): Chandre Petersen, Heinrich Kulsen, Philani Shongwe, Tamsyn Jeftha, Sacha Claassen, Elmarie Botes.

In 1999 in association with Nedbank, the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust was established to support social development through education in winelands communities. Over the years, the Development Trust has supported numerous learners at schools such as the Landbouskool Boland and Jan Kriel School amongst others.

In 2006, under the chairmanship of Philip Costandius, the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, a first for the wine industry, was launched with the goal of bringing about transformation by cultivating, nurturing and empowering promising individuals to become winemakers of excellence. The mentorship programme gives Viticulture and Oenology graduates the opportunity to work alongside and learn from Guild members. To date eight Protégés have participated in the programme, including Howard Booysen and Praisy Dlamini who have both graduated from the programme. The Guild currently has six protégés completing the three-year internship programme.

In addition to the internships, the Protégé Programme also offers bursaries to final year Viticulture and Oenology students at Stellenbosch University and Elsenburg Agricultural College.

For more information, go to www.capewinemakersguild.com.