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The 2006 South African Best of Wine Tourism Winners

The Great Wine Capitals Global Network is an international body that embraces eight large economic hubs, centred on the capitals at the heart of each region. Each city is in close proximity to major and internationally known wine producing region. These cities are Bilbao-Rioja, Bordeaux, Florence, Melbourne, Mendoza, San Francisco, Napa valley Porto and Cape Town, who became a signatory to the Network in 2001.

From 15 August to 31 September 2005, South African wineries which welcome visitors on their premises and which have wine tourism products to showcase were given the opportunity to enter the 2006 edition of the Best Of Wine Tourism contest. For the third edition of this contest, the South African Chapter of the Great Wine Capitals Network, represented by the City of Cape Town and the Cape Winelands District Municipality , joined hands with Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) to drive this key wine tourism initiative. The South African Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT) has also pledged its active and ongoing support to this initiative.

From 23 September to 3 October 2005, a panel of nineteen judges in total, organized in eight different panels, visited the wineries which had entered the contest. The judging criteria applied were that of the history of the winery, the quality of the wine tourism offering, the quality of the promotion and marketing of the winery, the quality of customer service, and the winery's involvement in the wine tourism industry. Depending on the category assessed, the visits were either unannounced or announced.

The judges who gathered on 5 October 2005 to validate the winners in each category extensively debated on how to improve the quality of the contest for the following years. For the 2006 edition, 24 wineries entered the contest.

Mr Gavin Pieterse, Chairperson of SAWIT, who sat on the validation team of the Best Of Wine Tourism Contest, commented on the quality of the judging panel of the 2006 edition and on the progress which had been made in setting standards in the South African Wine Tourism industry: He said: "In as much as the contest is still in its formative stage and we recognise the need to ensure that it attracts 'best of breed' entrants on a consistent basis, we were careful to ensure that our 2006 candidates for the global contest are in fact worthy of global competition"

The national winners of South Africa will take part in the International competition of the Best Of Wine Tourism Awards to be held in San Francisco, United States of America, on 16 November 2005 . On this occasion, a panel of international judges will select one award per city member. The international judging will focus on the most original and innovative aspects of each entry. Even though there are many differences between the wine tourism value offers all around the world, the common bases of the judgment will mainly concern the quality of the services and facilities, the quality and originality of the tourism offer, the quality of customer service and the degree of involvement in the development of wine tourism locally and internationally.

The 2006 winners of the Best Of Wine Tourism contest stand the chance to win an international Best Of Wine Tourism trophy, which represents a real consecration of a winery's innovation and excellence in receiving tourists on an international scale. They will appear on the Best Of Wine Tourism nominees list which will be promoted all year long through the local and international press and will be listed in a guide that will be distributed in the main local and international wine and tourism exhibitions. The winners further stand a chance to be invited to participate in the different education forums and wine tourism conferences in the different cities involved. Finally, such a marketing tool will benefit them in boosting their wine sales globally.

Validation team
Gavin Pieterse, Chairperson SAWIT
David Frandsen, Destination Development, CTRU

THE 2006 SOUTH AFRICAN WINNERS OF THE BEST OF WINE TOURISM AWARDS

ARCHITECTURE
Winner: Uitkyk Wine Estate

PARKS, GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES
Winner: Van Loveren Private Cellar

ACCOMMODATION
Winner: SylvanVale Vineyards & Devon Valley Hotel

CONFERENCES, MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS
Winner: Vrede En Lust

ART AND CULTURE
Winner: Seidelberg Wine Estate

SIGNIFICANT WINE TOURISM EXPERIENCE
Winner: Neethlingshof Wine Estate

WINERY RESTAURANT
Winner: Cabriere Estate

CELLAR DOOR EXPERIENCE
Winner: Waterford Estate

For any information, contact Sasha Lagrange at sasha@oda.co.za