#WeeklyWineWrap: Vineyard robot prototype ushers in a new era

IGWS launches a flagship robotics project

The gist of it: The Institute for Grape and Wine Science (IGWS) recently launched an ambitious robotics project with the first demonstration of a vineyard robot prototype. This project was undertaken with the vision of making viticulture in South Africa sustainable and future-focused by using advanced technology. Some of the potential applications for the robot that will be investigated include yield estimation, collection of soil information and diagnosis of stress reactions and excess or shortage of nutritional elements in a grapevine.

Images sourced from igws.co.za

The ‘Dassie’ prototype is quite agile and can easily move around in the vineyard. A few sensors have been fixed to the platform and include a laser (LIDAR) scanner as well as high definition cameras facing to the front and sideways. At the demonstration, it was also shown that the robot can pull an electromagnetic induction sensor behind it to be able to map soil differences. All measurements are streamed to an online computer to be able to process the information. Currently, the robot can be controlled via WiFi from a computer or a cell phone. Read more here.

You can now get an entry-level Cape Wine Academy qualification online

The gist of it: The Cape Wine Academy is the recognised leader in wine appreciation in South Africa and offers a variety of qualifications that range from front-of-house and sommelier certificates, to the much-revered Cape Wine Masters course. The great news is that their entry-level wine appreciation course is now available as four online modules for those of us who don’t have the time to attend two lectures in the flesh.

The ‘South African Wine Course’ is an online course that serves as an introduction to wine, wine origins, and how to identify and compare wines through taste, sight and smell. On completion of the course, students can take an in-depth journey into South African wine with the Certificate Wine Course. Read more here.

There is only one week to go until the Juliet Cullinan Standard Bank Wine Festival!

The gist of it: Juliet Cullinan has once again handpicked a vitrine of South Africa's most celebrated producers to showcase their best vintages at the most exclusive, longest running wine event throughout South Africa. Small and select, the festival is known for presenting vintages of distinction and quality in an elegant setting. Ms Cullinan created this unique marketing platform to acknowledge and celebrate the skills of talented individual winemakers. It's the second year that the SAWTC will use this exclusive wine platform to allow wine lovers to test their tasting ability. Visitors to the festival can taste and identify 30 wines in unlabelled decanters at the SAWTC stand. The SAWTC is not only a great occasion to test your palate with your friends; it also gives you an opportunity to be selected for the South African team that will be flying to Provence for the World Championships in October 2016.

The 2016 Juliet Cullinan Standard Bank Wine Festival takes place at Summer Place in Hyde Park and is open to the public on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 July 2016 from 17.00–21.00. Tickets are available from Webtickets.

7 KWV products included in the SAWi Grand Wines Collection

The gist of it: 2016 Juliet Cullinan Standard Bank Wine Festival exhibitor KWV recently received some well-deserved recognition when seven of their products were included on the SAWi Grand Wines Collection. This includes the KWV Mentors Petit Verdot, KWV Mentors Grenache Blanc, KWV Mentors Semillon, KWV Vintage White Jerepigo, KWV Abraham Perold Tributum Cape Blend and KWV 20 Year Old Brandy.

The South African Wine Index (SAWi) is a consumer-facing interest group that uses a multi-phase algorithm to help wine lovers identify consistent excellence based on a score that is determined by taking into account best results over multiple vintages, national and international accolades, proven record of quality as well as trophies and Top 10 listings.

The Grand Wine Collection (GWC) includes approximately 500 South African wines that have consistently achieved the highest acknowledgement from various wine judging panels and respected wine commentators all over the world, each of which boasts a minimum of 93 SAWi index points. Read more here.

This week’s Weekly Wine Wrap-Up was brought to you by Juliet Cullinan Wines. The 26th annual Juliet Cullinan Standard Bank Wine Festival will be hosted on 12 and 13 July 2016 at Summer Place, Hyde Park. Tickets are available at Webtickets.

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