THIS TOURISM WEEK Number 40 - Monday, 5 June 2006
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WITH ALL THE SERIOUS STUFF AT THE INDABA - BEE, the airlift, statistics (about which more next week) - it’s sometimes possible to forget that, at its core, tourism is about entertainment and having a crackling good time (if you’ll excuse the pun).
And so it was great to wander through the Western Cape Pavilion and find there a gem of a guide which’ll be as useful to tourism practitioners and students as it will to your actual, you know, tourist.
The Wine Tourism Handbook brings all of the Cape’s Wine Routes together in 172 A5 pages and is filled with information about estates, cellars, accommodation, activities, restaurants and festivals on the Constantia, Durbanville, Paarl, Wellington, Breedekloof, Worcester, Robertson, Klein Karoo, Franschoek, Stellenbosch, Darling, Swartland, Tulbagh, Olifants River and Orange River Wine Routes - and, of course, on the Brandy Routes of the Cape.
When it comes to wine, I’m a confirmed idiot. I can’t tell my Chardonnay from my Cuvee Brut or my Merlot from my Syrah - but, like the art lover who knows nothing about art but knows what he likes, I knows what I likes. And what I likes is the whole ceremony surrounding wine: the beauty of a landscape filled with vines, the attentive hovering of a sommelier as she presents the object of her affection at your table at a favourite restaurant, the sophisticated feel of an oversized wine glass as you lift it to the light to appreciate the colour and then to your nose to begin the puzzling and entertaining guessing game of What’s-in-here?
Pineapples? Blue cheese? Hazel nuts? Summer berries? Smelly socks?
No matter. Whatever it is, it’s wine and, because there are millions like me - and millions more, no doubt, who do know what they’re talking about - wine tourism is an important component of the Cape’s tourism plant and of the South African tourism industry as a whole. And while I’m not sure if I’ve seen any recent studies on tourism attractions by sector, I’m pretty sure that wine must rank with wildlife as one of the most important.
The Handbook defines wine tourism as “the experience around wine, the enjoyment of the wine lifestyle at its source, on the wine farms of the Cape, South Africa. This includes food, art, music, landscape, cultural and outdoor activities” (a little laboured, I know, but if there’s one criticism I have of this publication it’s that the English is sometimes tortuous and could have done with a much lighter touch. After all, we’re having fun here).
It begins with the obligatory chapter on “How To Use This Handbook” and like most publications of its type it makes use of a number of symbols for easy reference - and I was happy to note that prominent amongst them was a chubby teddy bear that says “children are welcome.” It’s a problem for me that a disproportionate number of South African guest houses and suchlike “welcome children over 12 years of age” - but on going through the ads in the book I was happy, too, to see that most of the estates that welcome guests welcome children.
The Handbook continues with discussions on the history of wine in South Africa (thank you Jan van Riebeeck, Simon van der Stel and Charles Kohler, founder of the KWV) and on the nature of South African Wines.
The Biodiversity and Wine Initiative is given two full pages - and this is interesting because it shows the editor’s commitment to examining the whole ethos (hate that word) of wine in South Africa.
The Cape Floral Kingdom - which includes the Cape fynbos - is the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms (a floral kingdom being a collection of plant types typical of a geographic area). The largest, the Boreal Kingdom, covers most of the North American and European landmasses - and our tiny Cape Kingdom is the only one that’s confined within the borders of one, single country.
Trouble is, wines grow well were fynbos grows best - and with South Africa already positioned as the world’s eighth largest exporter of wine, one has to worry about the consequences of the industry’s continuing expansion. But, following a study conducted by the Botanical Society and Conservation International, the conservation sector and the wine industry have entered into a pioneering partnership to “incorporate biodiversity best practices” into growing South African wine. The partnership aims to minimise the loss of threatened habitat and to help make wine production sustainable by reducing harmful farming practices.
And then we come to the nitty-gritty of the book: the 16 wine routes themselves, each presented on its own introductory page with full-page (but not overly informative) maps followed by lists of cellars with their telephone numbers and opening times. Towards the end of the book, chapters on where to taste wine and on dining, outdoor activities, arts and crafts, venues, entertainment and accommodation round out the picture of wine tourism in the Cape.
I enjoyed dipping into the Wine Tourism Handbook (which is published by The World’s Favourite) and I’m going to keep it for reference and as an excellent accompaniment to my occasional glass or two.
Just one thing, though: does a good book go better with white wine or with red?
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