“We are hoping that the publicity surrounding the grounding of Eihatsu Maru last week serves as a warning to our local maritime industry. Although this particular vessel has been freed, the current bill for salvage operations sits at about R6 million,” says Mike Brews, Chief Operating Officer from Associated Marine, a division of Santam, South Africa’s largest insurer.

It is not clear whether the vessel, registered in Tokyo, is insured or not. If not, the South African public will be held responsible for the tab.

Local ship owners need to understand the potential consequences for their ships and their business if they are found in a similar situation without being fully insured.

“A grounded ship without insurance can be arrested, as well as its cargo, until the debt is cleared or a guarantee is arranged. In the case that the debt is not cleared, the ship and its cargo can be sold to defray expenses,” warns Brews.

Brews also cautions that the South African maritime salvage industry may be influenced negatively by the increase in the number of strandings along our coastline. The tugs involved in marine salvage are faced with special risks in the course of business and therefore must be fully insured.

“Part of the rating process of salvage vessels takes into consideration the average number of salvages likely per year and the risk and the potential for damage. If the risk of exposure to these types of incidents is on the rise, the local industry may feel the knock on effect,” concludes Brews.

The winners were selected after 180 finalists – drawn from more than 5,500 entries – presented their business concepts to 18 provincial judging panels, who selected a total of 11 national finalists.

Another four special category awards were allocated; these included best woman entrepreneur, best youth entrepreneur, best job-creating entrepreneur and best entrepreneur with a disability.

The winners were announced at a gala function in Sunninghill, Johannesburg on Tuesday by the Chairman and CEO of Seda, Mr Lindo Mngomezulu and Ms Hlonela Lupuwana.

The national winner, Adesh Naidoo from Kwa-Zulu Natal, Clean Street, won a laptop, software, R50 000 in cash, plus R600 000 in business support value from Seda.

Adesh is a passionate and determined entrepreneur, who plans to take his concept – a special green-friendly litter bin that provides advertising revenue for the city, to every municipality in South Africa. The judges believe that Adesh has the drive and business acumen to launch this product, even in the highly competitive media sector, and unanimously gave him their highest score.

Prizes for the national runners-up include: R10 000 in cash, all runners-up share R240 000 business support value from Seda:

1. Palesa Moeketsi from Western Cape – Chesa Communications: Palesa’s media company has pioneered the concept of simultaneous syndicated programming to a network of small community radio stations, thus opening up a whole new marketing channel to advertisers. The judges believe that Palesa’s unique community radio syndication business is not only innovative but is poised to grow as this media sector expands – her passion and energy should also be a major factor.
2. Bokao Theka from North-West, Canvas Products: Bokao has taken a simple, borning product – canvas – and created a range of high quality canvas products from laptop bags to lapas. This business, say the judges, not only has national potential, but shows great entrepreneurship from someone who started as a cleaner.
3. Lizelle Beukes from Gauteng, Arrero Premium Car Fragrance: The fragrances are based on designer aromas, and not the typical “fruity” smells currently available. As people spend more time in their cars, and as the average age of cars on the road increases due to high new car costs, this is a way for people to keep a new car sensation for longer. The judges believe Lizelle’s product could really take off, as people hold on to their cars for longer in a recession, and spend more on beautifying them for the long haul. Branding is the key, and that’s what the judges have recommended Seda’s business advisers focus on.

The wine believed to be South Africa’s oldest red blend celebrates its 80th birthday this year. Chateau Libertas was launched in 1932, by an American medical doctor, adventurer and former Texas Ranger, who had gone into winemaking when he moved to Stellenbosch. Not a year has gone by since in which the wine has not been made.

Chateau, as it is affectionately called, occupies such an entrenched position in the history of so many South African wine lovers that it has assumed an almost iconic status. At a charity auction held in 1985, a bottle of the 1940 vintage was knocked down for R20 000.

Admittedly a gesture intended to garner publicity it nevertheless did demonstrate the esteem in which the wine was held. At last year’s Nederburg Auction, a trio of bottles from 1961 went for R20 000, the equivalent of R6 666 a 750ml bottle, while a six-bottle case of the 1965 sold for R14 000, and a six-bottle case of the 1967, for R8 800.

The origins of Chateau Libertas are as straightforward as the wine itself. Dr William Charles Winshaw wanted a wine to enjoy with food. It was considered good for the digestion and part of a healthy lifestyle. The problem was there wasn’t much choice on the local market in the years between the two World Wars and most of what was available was sweet and fortified. That prompted him to create for South Africans a tasty, lightly wooded dry red blend.

Whether it aided his own digestion or impacted on his health is hard to say, but he worked till the age of 92 and died when he was 96.

Born in 1871, Winshaw was a runaway from Kentucky, USA, who left home at 12. He liked to tell the story that he made his way down the Tennessee River in a canoe with an old hobo. He had many encounters, including meeting Buffalo Bill (aka Colonel William Cody) and at 22 became a Texas Ranger. That was before he went on to study medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans. When he graduated, he settled in New Mexico and met a man buying mules on behalf of the British fighting in the Anglo Boer War. He reckoned the time was right to see some more of the world, so he took the job of accompanying the 4 000 animals on their journey to Cape Town. Once he landed, he was ready for action. He delivered the mules and joined the British fighting forces in 1900.

He loved South Africa and made the country his home. After practising medicine for some years, he turned his hand to winemaking, experimenting in his kitchen. Before long he was supplying a growing group of regular customers, prompting him to start the Stellenbosch Grape Juice Works in 1909. He did very well until an oversupply in a depressed market after World War I saw his business collapse in 1921. Undaunted, after a break, he started a new business, buying the Stellenbosch farm Oude Libertas and establishing Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (SFW) in 1925. This venture proved far more enduring and was the birthplace of many South African wines that are still household names to countless South Africans today. Chateau Libertas was one of his favourites.

SFW merged with Distillers Corporation in 2000 to create Distell.

Winshaw believed that if he could produce something well-priced, well-made and accessibly styled, even people who weren’t accustomed to wine would see the appeal of his offer. He soon had 80 000 followers, who were buying his blend at a shilling a bottle.

An advertisement in The Wine Book of South Africa (1936), urged readers “When travelling by rail or motor (to) insist on being served” his special blend with their meals. He advised them to “please complain to the Management” if it wasn’t available and assured them that this was a wine “not to intoxicate but give just the right stimulation to the digestion needed by travellers”.

Chateau Libertas was such an ambassador for South Africa that when the British Royal Family visited in 1947 it was served at the official state banquet. It also made an appearance when Viscount Montgomery of Alamein came in 1954 and once again, in 1960, to honour British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of “Winds of Change” fame.

Originally conceived as an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon-based, wood-matured blend, Chateau Libertas is still made with the same objectives. However, these days it has more of a ripe berry fruit profile to suit contemporary tastes.

Those who have been involved in making the blend will attest that there has never been a fixed recipe. The overriding criterion has always been to remain loyal to the original intention of the wine: to please with an approachable, well-balanced and layered combination of fruit and wood and the structure to age. Cinsaut was a component of the blend until the turn of the century but with the dramatic reduction in plantings that is no longer the case.

The current blend still features Cabernet Sauvignon but also Shiraz, Merlot, Ruby Cabernet and even Petit Verdot.

Says Jackie Olivier, marketing spokesperson for the brand: “Everybody loves its open-hearted burst of juicy ripe fruit backed by a touch of wood. Smooth and delicious, it makes a great match with so many foods. Try it with smoked meats, hearty pastas, pizza, grills, roasts, casseroles, stews.”

The wine is sold nationally and retails for around R34 a bottle. In our student days it was sometimes available at under R10.00 a bottle – aaah the price of fame!

Dr William Charles Winshaw's Chateau Libertas has stood the test of time.

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Article source: http://www.doolhof.com/blog/latest-news/celebrate-mothers-day-at-doolhof-13-may-2012/

The Signatures of Doolhof Malbec 2010 was chosen from around 400 of South Africa’s top wines and one of only 51 red wines to be included in this prestigious list.  The 2010 Signatures of Doolhof Malbec is the 4th Malbec vintage to be released and follows in the celebrated footsteps of the previous wines.

The 2007 vintage received double gold medals at the Michelangelo International Wine Awards, as well as  the Tri Nations Wine Challenge, a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards, as well as being chosen as the top Malbec in the annual Novare Terroir Wine Awards. The 2008 vintage clinched a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards and the 2009 was awarded a gold medal at the Michelangelo International Wine Awards and received the honour of being chosen the Top Malbec at the Novare Terroir Wine Awards.

Doolhof is located in the historic Bovlei valley, north east of Wellington and currently 2.5 hectares of the 380 hectare farm is planted with Malbec. The Malbec vineyard was planted in 2003 and is the highest vineyard on the property situated just below the Bainskloof Pass. The location of this vineyard means that the vineyard team must compete with baboons and wild pigs for the grapes, resulting in limited production!

Doolhof Wine Estate is an accredited member of the Biodiversity in Wine Initiative which is an industry wide project to help promote the conservation of fynbos.

“One of the  first decisions made on acquiring the farm was to plant Malbec, as we wanted all the Bordeaux cultivars on the property for blending purposes. It has not been an easy journey, but worth it,” says Dennis Kerrison, owner of the Estate

“I recall the  2008 vintage in particular. We planned to harvest on a Monday and on the Friday a major fire broke out below Bains Kloof  burning all the way down to our farm.  The Malbec was covered with ash.  Then on Saturday and Sunday the heavens opened and heavy rain poured down, making it impossible to  harvest on the Monday.  We harvested a week later, and  still managed a Decanter Gold!  We dubbed this Malbec vintage Fire Rain. I am constantly amazed by the versatility of this grape and we are set to make quality  Malbec synonymous with the Doolhof brand.”

The current vintage on sale is the Signatures of Doolhof 2009, at R115.00 per bottle.

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Article source: http://www.doolhof.com/blog/latest-news/doolhof-place-of-magical-malbec/

Jasper Raats from Longridge Wine Estate stated that these accolades are definitely a boost for the wine estate. “We are ecstatic with having three wines under the Top 100 in the country and on top of that two Best Value awards as well! This recognition endorses our focus on top quality and is tremendous for our brand and consumer appeal. We are especially happy that our Chardonnay is a repeat winner! Top 100′s year-long promotion strategy is a unique and compelling feature that suits our market focus and is one of the reasons we participated in this competition,” mentions Raats.

The 50-hectare farm was established in 1992, but was taken over by a Dutch family twelve years later and has slowly evolved into a graceful home to elegantly crafted wines and exceptional culinary experiences. The Longridge philosophy revolves around natural farming in the vineyards and minimal interference in the cellar combined with the use of the freshest, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients in the restaurant.

Jasper Raats and Hendrien de Munck

It was clear that Semi-Soet held great potential for Vrede en Lust as a brand to get on board and become part of this new Afrikaans production as the main location for the film. As well-experienced the cast and crew were, I think we are still amazed at how excellent this entire project was executed and how well it has been received by the South African public to date.

The movie has enjoyed a great run in theaters. To date, nearly 300,000 people have seen the movie. According to the Alexanders,  the highlight for them as producers has been the overwhelmingly positive feedback. Film critics rated Semi-Soet highly and it is  clear that the South African audience  loved it too!

Semi-Soet’s attendance soon beat the previous Afrikaans success story Platteland  (released late November 2011): in the 3^rd weekend of Semi-Soet’s run , it surpassed Platteland’s attendances by 111,7%, setting it up for the 4^thweekend by 176,5%, the 5^th weekend by 402,7%, the 6^th weekend by 278,4% and the 7^th weekend by 301,8%! Semi-Soet is currently still showing at just over 30 theatres while in its 9^th week!

The latest box office figures showed that up until the 8^th week, Semi-Soet has generated a total of R8 million nett at Box Office. Typically, the DVD sales and Pay TV agreements are worth more than box office sales, so the Producers are rather excited to see what the lifetime holds for this Afrikaans romcom. The planned release date for the DVD is 30 April and currently it is the top DVD on pre-orders on Kalahari.net!

The cast included former Afrikaans soap 7de Laan stars like Nico Panagio and Diaan Lawrenson,  Paul du Toit (Binnelanders) and Corine du Toit. The talented Sandra Vaughn (from Getroud met Rugby) was both the scriptwriter and one of the main characters in the movie. Her character  falls in love with comedian Louw Venter. These two characters  caused lots of laughs in the movie.

The crew booked in on the 17^th of April last year and by the 5^th of May they had completed  the wine farm scenes that made up almost 70% of the movie. The weather, true to the Cape, gave them some  breathtaking summer days and some cold, rainy days, perfect for  their fireplace scenes.

Although some of the shots in the movie look  too good to be true, the director promises he did not edit the lighting and colour at all! It is one of the suprises of  the film and something that struck our consciousness – to see how beautiful our workplace is on the big screen!

Anel and James had a very competent team that came on board, like the Director Joshua Rous, who worked on a previous film with Anel and James, called “Discreet” where they co-starred. Scramble Productions is the Alexanders’ start-up production company.

We  accommodated most of the cast and crew on our premises during their shooting period. With them sleeping and shooting in the same spaces, it contributed a great deal to the feel and the experience they had and created on set.  The energetic, positive and kind group of people got the opportunity to truly experience our historic Manor House and Jonkmanshuis. Chef Duncan from Cotage Fromage prepared a delicious buffet every morning and afternoon.  Many thought it was the best on-set food ever!

In February this year we were involved in both the Johannesburg and Cape Town movie premieres. The Jo’burg premiere hosted 1,000 guests at the Montecasino Nu Metro theatres. The majority of guests were local celebrities, singers, actors, filmmakers, sponsors, media and corporates. Because of our partnership and wine sponsorship for these events and further marketing initiatives, we were also granted a certain number of complimentary invitations which we extended to our Gauteng-based Wine club members. They had the opportunity to be part of this classy, formal event and to share the red carpet with some big local personalities.

The Cape Town premiere was on a much smaller scale and hosted entirely by us, so we had the opportunity to invite  our Cape Town-based Wine club members, friends and family, the local media partners plus some cast’s friends or family that could not make the Jo’burg event. It was another classy event, but more intimate than the Jo’burg one, hosted at The Fugard Theatre in District six.

James from Salt Pepper Catering added to a lovely evening with delicious canapés and of course all our passionate ladies in red were serving our Jess Dry Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc or Boet Erasmus wines. They looked just as elegant as the movie stars! To add to the romantic ambiance, we partnered with Lindt to provide delicious dark chocolate to pair with the Boet Erasmus!

There were a mix of Afrikaans and English-speaking guests and the feedback on the night was that it was greatly enjoyed and definitely exceeded everyone’s  expectations. It is a movie that portrays the Afrikaner in a more aspiring manner vs the slapstick movies of late.

In addition to the release of the movie, we launched a limited edition of the Boet Erasmus 2008. We named the wine “Vryersvoetpad” after the scene in the movie where Jaci (Alexander) and JP (Panagio) walk a lover’s lane of sorts and end up being chased by a pig into a dam and ended in a tree. The image on the label of the wine is synonymous with the imagery from the scene. Each bottle is numbered to a total of 1,400 and very little stock is still available from Makro and our tasting room. For Semi-Soet lovers, this wine can remain a collector’s item or serve well on a romantic date!

If you have not seen the movie, whether you are English or Afrikaans, we want to encourage you to go watch the movie, even if it is just to support a bit of local romantic-comedy. I am almost sure to say that you will be pleasantly surprised! And if you still don’t like watching Afrikaans movies (with English sub-titles), at least you will see how stunning Vrede en Lust looks on big screen!

We will have another movie night at Vrede en Lust for all the farm staff that has not yet seen the movie, pure with popcorn, Coke and a big screen!

We are very happy that Anel walked in here that day! James, Anel and the rest of the team, from our side CONGRATULATIONS on pulling together such a quality production and for making Vrede en Lust one of the stars in it!

Local is lekker!
To read more about the movie visit our website

Article source: http://www.vnl.co.za/2012/04/20/vrede-en-lust-stars-in-its-first-movie/

We crushed a total of 701 tons this harvest – our biggest crush to date. The 2012 crush is 22% larger overall than the 2011 crush, most of the growth due to our Elgin vineyards getting to more mature production.

Our winery’s maximum capacity is about 750 tons, but due to the late harvesting of the grapes from the Simonsberg-Paarl vineyards, things were tight in the winery this year. Susan and Ansone had to shuffle and plan tanks very carefully to make everything fit in.

In ‘normal (if there is such a thing anymore) years’ we would have been done with the reds from Simonsberg-Paarl a few weeks earlier, which would leave more space in the winery for the Elgin reds coming in. The cool early spring and early summer resulted in much longer hang times which should translate into some excellent wines from the 2012 crush.

All in all things worked out well though and we have started removing the 4Ha (10 acre) block 18 of Cab Sauv at Vrede en Lust, as we optimize production for the winery. That will reduce the Cab crop by about 32 tons going forward. It is really upsetting, as this 1999 block should have been in peak production now, but the quality was never there, probably caused by poor planting material during the planting bubble of the late 90?s.

We will let the block rest for about 4 years before replanting. Still need to decide what we will replant with, but we have time on our side for that key decision.

Reds still make up 71% of our crush, but that % will go down as production at our Elgin vineyards ramp up over the next few years. By 2013 we expect to take in the maiden Riesling and Pinot Noir harvests at Casey’s Ridge in Elgin and by 2016 all of our Elgin vineyards will be in full production.

Overall, we harvest quite a range of grape cultivars as the graph below shows. 14 different cultivars at present, going up to 16 with the Riesling and Pinot Noir next year. That is a big selection of grapes but it gives our winemakers choices and options. Some cultivars (such as Petit Verdot and Grenache) are used only as blending components. Other cultivars are produced for a very specific purpose, such as being the main blend component in Jess for our Pinotage.

The graph above shows the cultivars harvested by Wine of Origin, with the grapes from our two Simonsberg-Paarl (SP) vineyards shown in red and the grapes from our Elgin vineyards shown in green.

The Merlot production is split between the Boet Erasmus and the Red Lady; the small Malbec harvest this year will be split between the Boet Erasmus and the Mocholate Malbec and the Shiraz is split between the Syrah and a portion that is harvested earlier for our Jess Rose. The Cab Sauv goes to the Boet Erasmus with the excess sold of as bulk wine.

From the 701 tons crushed, we will end up with approximately 420,000 liters of wine. We will bottle about 270,000 liters (30,000 9L cases) under the Vrede en Lust label. The remaining 150,000 liters will be sold as bulk wine to other wineries.

Susan and Ans will have a few key decisions to make this year:

• Blend the Syrah’s from Elgin and Simonsberg-Paarl or keep them separate ? Hard call as the Elgin Syrah is so beautiful in its own right.
• Blend the two Viogniers or bottle them apart? Maybe an easier call as the Elgin Viognier has improved hugely in 2011.
• Keep Sarah as an unwooded Chardonnay or add some Chenin and dash of Viognier to make it more interesting and unique?
• Keep some of the registered single vineyard Elgin Chenin for a high end, cool climate chenin bottling?
• What will we do with the Elgin Bordeaux reds – Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and Merlot? Small blend for the Artisan Range or cultivar bottlings for same, or blending into the larger Boet Erasmus blend ?

Article source: http://www.vnl.co.za/2012/04/17/the-2012-harvest-in-numbers-and-graphs/

“The use of ozone to clean fresh produce is nothing new globally, but those systems have always been large, expensive installations – which is why NOZ is such an exciting innovation,” says Stuart Gast, Executive Director at Invenfin. “The tremendous shift towards fresh, organic and unprocessed foods demands that more care is taken in preparation and storage, and NOZ is an effective, low-cost and chemical-free solution for all food preparation areas.”

The patented NOZ system comprises a control unit – a sealed, in-line chamber in which the ozone is generated by means of a corona discharge – and a nozzle through which the ozone is mixed with water to produce a fine spray for application to the produce. Ozone is a marvel of nature as the molecule rapidly destroys pollutants by attacking and oxidising the micro-organism’s cell wall and then reverting to oxygen. This sanitisation technology has been proven to kill 99.9% of all known bacteria, which besides reducing the risk of food poisoning, has the added commercial benefit of significantly extending the shelf life of fresh food – up to doubling it in certain instances.
“These results have sparked local and international interest from restaurateurs, industrial cleaning companies and hotel chains who have recognised the economic benefits, and that it is a green, chemical-free alternative to traditional sanitising solutions,” says ArcAqua MD, Crispin Russell.

“We recently appointed Hychem as our South African distributor. Hychem is well recognised in the hospitality industry as one of the leading suppliers of chemicals, environmental solutions, accessories and associated services in the market. Since the launch of our product became known, the international response has been overwhelming with a number of foreign companies expressing interest in our technology.”

While the food and hospitality industries are ArcAqua’s initial targets, the NOZ system can easily be adapted for application in a wide variety of industries from the medical and laboratory fields to public facilities such as factories, gyms, bathrooms and even in the home.
Gast says NOZ sparked immediate interest for Invenfin as it is a simple but innovative, environmentally friendly solution with global potential.
“When looking at potential investments, we are drawn to products or solutions that are at the intersection of global issues, and NOZ very clearly meets the macro trends of healthier eating and being environmentally-friendly head-on,” he says. “The nature and experience of our partners in ArcAqua added to our interest as they understand their business and market very well.”

Invenfin is a seed and early stage venture capital investment company and is part of Remgro Ltd. @Invenfin

Author: Renee Conradie
Website: http://invenfin.com/

More than 5,500 business ideas, start-ups and existing small businesses entered the competition nationally. The winners were selected from a group of 20 finalists in the Western Cape and now go through to the national finals, where more than R5-million in prizes is at stake.

The Western Cape winner is Palesa Moeketsi of Chesa Communications.

Says Moeketsi: “Any advertiser will tell you it is not easy to use community stations for radio advertising. Our community radio concept is not only cheaper than direct advertising, but it gives the advertiser total ownership of their radio airtime – no competitors can invade the space. It also allows for much more creative programming, rather than conventional advertising. And it allows the client to reach a large number of community stations without having to deal individually with each one.”

Seda spokesperson Nkululeko Kunene congratulated the winner and finalists and said: “These innovative businesses are the tip of the iceberg. The competition has generated a wealth of new business ideas and small businesses with exciting growth potential.”

“Seda will be supporting these and other winners and finalists to the tune of no less than R3,580,000 worth of business support, in addition to the other prizes such as laptops, software and publicity exposure.”

More than 31,192 unique visitors visited the competition website, while 9,306 people registered to enter the competition. More than 20,000 entry forms were downloaded and several thousand people attended workshops and business plan training sessions.

The provincial winners each receive R15,000 in cash and R130,000 worth of Seda business support, while the runners up each receive a laptop and Microsoft Office software, as well as between R4,500 and R10,000 in cash.

The Western Cape runners up are:

3rd runner up: Jugdishbhai Magan, Nirabritz Nature Guides and Tours

A luxury, bespoke tour guide service. Nirabritz aims to provide the top-end tourist, business and leisure visitor to Cape Town with an unrivalled experience that combines highly professional, expert tour guides with super knowledge of the land and marine environment, luxury Mereces Benz vehicles and a totally customised service.

2nd runner up: Stephen Mabie, GeoSpark

GeoSpark takes advantage of the rapidly growing phenomenon of mobile smartphone location-based services (LBS). It is a mobile platform that enables social matching and meeting, instant messaging and localised special retail offers, plus many other services. By knowing your location at any time, GeoSpark can serve up a mix of promotions, offers and possible friends tailored to your profile.

1st runner up: Anton Festa, Ice Cream Ninjas

Anton has created Ice Cream Ninjas, a premium ice cream product that offers more than 100,000 possible flavour combinations. The unique concept involves a granite slab on which premium ice cream can be cut into portions and “mashed” with a variety of toppings, allowing the customer to tailor their own unique ice cream combinations. The Ice Cream Ninjas experience is heightened by the staff “tossing” and “spinning” the ice cream and topping containers.

We at MyCapeTown have been using the companion to SEOprofiler – AXANDRA – since 2004 and can fully vouch for the effectiveness of that program. SEOprofiler actually works out cheaper than AXANDRA if you run a search engine optimisation campaign for 10 months for a SINGLE web site.

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The 2011 Raats Original Chenin Blanc was picked for its rich crispiness and “wonderful melon and fruity depth. The palate follows with creamy yellow fruit, fine acid balance and concentration.” The reviewer also viewed this vintage as one of the best value Chenin Blancs from South Africa.

The 2008 Raats Cabernet Franc also impressed with its “attractive lifted black fruit fragrance, herbs, pepper, cedar and raspberry. Exotic spice notes follow on the palate, wrapped in layers of blackberry and redcurrant depth. Well-defined acids, spicy oak texture and a super creamy finish. Young, but will reward cellaring,” reads the review.

“It is fantastic to have two Raats wines included in Imbibe’s wine recommendations as the publication is extremely well-read in the UK drinks and hospitality industries. This is a perfect platform to grab the attention of potential buyers and make an impact for our wines,” explains Bruwer Raats.

Bruwer Raats

American Cocktail: 50 Recipes That Celebrate the Craft of Mixing Drinks From Coast to Coa: 50 Recipes That Celebrate the Craft of Mixing Drinks From Coast to Coast

This ultimate guide to American Cocktails collects more than fifty drink recipes from across the U.S., spanning five distinct regions (the South, the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and the West Coast). Each recipe comes from one of America’s top bartenders, and includes a bit of history on the cocktail as well as information about the unique ingredients that go into it. The drinks are both classic and contemporary, often putting a fresh and modern twist on an iconic heritage drink, and each is a sophisticated, artisanal recipe that emphasizes the art of the cocktail.

This ultimate guide to American Cocktails collects more than fifty drink recipes from across the U.S., spanning five distinct regions (the South, the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and the West Coast). Each recipe comes from one of America’s top bartenders, and includes a bit of history on the cocktail as well as information about the unique ingredients that go into it. The drinks are both classic and contemporary, often putting a fresh and modern twist on an iconic heritage drink, and each is a sophisticated, artisanal recipe that emphasizes the art of the cocktail.

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Daughter Luci, the “voice of Hirsch’s” kicked off the formal ceremony by welcoming all guests to the milestone event. She spoke about the Hirsch’s history, how the business was started and how it has grown to the successful retail empire it is today. She explained about Hirsch’s community involvement, Hirsch’s going green with revolutionary engineering concepts and the Hirsch family culture.

Managing Director of the company, Richard Hirsch spoke next about the Cape Town dream, the planning, the training, the hard work, and the determination that made the opening of the first branch in cape town a reality.

Margaret Hirsch, COE, then spoke about the Cape Town project, how it came about and how the dream was realised. She warmly thanked all involved, Isipani Construction, who through hard work and determination erected the great structure standing before our eyes today. Jandre Arangies from Isipani Construction was also awarded an ecological award for the exceptionally high ecological standards maintained throughout the duration of the project by the local community of Royal Ascot.

Allan Hirsch, CEO, was last to speak. Thanking the community of Cape Town for receiving the Hirsch’s family with open arms. He then assured the community that we were not here to take from anyone, but that we were here to grow with Cape Town and the community.

Author: Nardo van Eck
Website: http://www.hirschs.co.za

Considering macroeconomic conditions, inflation is set to decline slightly until 2017, with interest rates rising by 2 % during the period. Inflationary pressure is expected to be predominantly supply-driven, in the first half of the forecast period, with consumption expenditure increasing in 2014 with slight demand-pull inflation.

In the past decade, from 2000 to 2009, GDP was driven by consumption expenditure, which increased in conjunction with household debt. Credit extension was limited in 2007 by the National Credit Act, which promoted responsible lending by financial institutions. This led to a marked decline in credit being extended to the private sector in 2007, and this spared many consumers during the financial crisis of 2009.

South Africa has many exciting growth prospects for the future. In the past, fixed capital formation has been relatively low, but has increased dramatically, since 2008, and is set to continue into the future. There are various medium and long-term infrastructure projects that are in place for the South African economy that will drive job creation and will stimulate economic growth.

The major areas identified for infrastructure development are for the energy, transport, water and sanitation sectors, notes Frost & Sullivan. The budget allocations made in 2012 will serve to drive these developments that are expected to attract significant private investment and public private partnerships.

Various other key sectors have been identified as ‘job drivers’ under the New Growth Path, set in motion in 2011. This plan seeks to maximise job creation in the economy, by promoting and supporting industries and sectors that can drive job creation. These sectors include agriculture and agri-processing, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the ‘green economy’ and tourism.

The green economy will focus on renewable energy generation. The Integrated Resource Plan, which is a 20 year plan for upgrading electricity generation in South Africa, has set a goal of 42% of electricity generation from renewable resources by 2030. Major contributors to these initiatives will be solar and wind farms.

South Africa will need these infrastructure investments to remain an economy and infrastructure powerhouse in the Sub-Saharan region. It is currently seen as a safe investment platform for expansion into the rest of Africa, and these developments should enforce its status. The safety of investment into South Africa is supported by the fact that it was ranked number one for auditing and reporting standards by the World Competitiveness Report. It also ranked in the top three for regulation of securities exchanges, soundness of banks and availability of financial services. This emphasises the strength and soundness of the financial services sector in South Africa.

Future growth seems to be on a more sustainable path, concludes Frost & Sullivan, with investment driving growth, job creation and skills development in a country where economic growth and social welfare are key priorities.

Lolly Jackson: When Fantasy Becomes Reality, written by Sean Newman, Peter Piegl and Karyn Maughan and Killing Kebble by Mandy Wiener as well as the new Eight Days in September – The Removal of Thabo Mbeki by Frank Chikane have eclipsed international titles as the most sold out books in recent weeks on South Africa’s biggest online store for books and eBooks.

Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography (physical book), Girl with the dragon tattoo by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson and Jodi Picoult’s Lone Wolf, are some of the international hits that feature on the list of the most popular books that are no match for local authors in terms of sales.

“We have had many international best sellers on our site but books by local authors remain the most in demand. Literature occupies a very important place in South Africa therefore more than just a patriotic gesture, we think that consumers tend to prefer local books over international ones because of the quality of the writing and the local relevance of the stories being told,” says Jaco Aucamp, category books manager at Kalahari.com.

“Eight Days in September is very popular at the moment. Our initial stock sold out quickly and we had to replenish fast. Everybody wants to get their hands on the country’s newest and hottest piece of writing and at this rate the book will sale an astonishing number of copies by the end of the year,” adds Aucamp.

Chikane’s book which tells of the eight-day period in September in which Thabo Mbeki was booted out of the presidency has been creating waves since its publication and has caused a strong reaction within the local political community.

“South Africa’s appetite for South African literature is perhaps confirmation for the expression that local is really lekker”, concludes Aucamp.

Below are the top 5 bestsellers of the past few weeks on Kalahari.com per format:

eBooks

1. Killing Kebble (local)
2. Die Bybel (local)
3. Girl with the dragon tattoo (international)
4. Jana se geheim (local)
5. Bloody Valentine

Books

1. Eight Days in September – The Removal of Thabo Mbeki (Demand based on click)
2. Lolly Jackson (local)
3. Lone Wolf (international)
4. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography (international)
5. Leaving – Karen Kingsbury

Killing Kebble	Die Bybel	Girl with the dragon tattoo	Jana se geheim	Bloody Valentine
Eight Days in September	Lolly Jackson	Lone Wolf	Steve Jobs	Leaving

A sister organization to the well-known Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), EO is a global membership organization designed to provide a unique space and networking environment in which leading entrepreneurs can engage, learn and grow. Every member of EO must be the founder, co-founder, owner or controlling shareholder of a company grossing a minimum of R8-million (US$1- million) annually.

EO Cape Town President Graeme Prevost points out that, despite these stringent entry criteria, EO Cape Town has been one of the fastest growing new chapters in the global organization. “The record increase in membership that we’ve experienced in recent months shows how many highly successful entrepreneurial businesses there are in the region.”

EO Cape Town was launched by EO Johannesburg to form a stand-alone chapter of EO. From its starting membership base of 25 Cape Town-based members, the chapter has recently celebrated the addition of its 40th member to its ever-strengthening ranks. Prevost predicts membership will hit the 50 mark by June 2012, making EO Cape Town the fastest growing chapter in the EMEA region.

The 40 members of EO Cape Town jointly run businesses employing nearly 1,500 people and doing R1-billion in annual sales. The average age of the Cape Town membership base is just 34.

EO creates a platform for entrepreneurs to learn from each other, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life. With the stated intention of building the world’s most influential community of entrepreneurs, EO has a presence in 40 countries around the world, boasting 120 chapters and more than 8,000 members, whose businesses jointly employ more than 1.5 million people.