Wines of South Africa

	Conservation in South African Vineyards For every one acre planted to vineyards in South Africa, the growers now have 1,27 acres on the farms and estates in conservation status. These are the latest figures released by the World Wildlife Fund&rsquos Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, a pioneering partnership between the South African wine industry and the conservation sector. The 314,500 acres under conservation are being restored to the indigenous vegetation, and as this process happens, growers are finding that natural water resources return, along with a myriad of wildlife. South Africa has approximately 250,000 acres under vine. Recent reports that South Africa has had a net decline in vineyards and is facing a wine shortage within 5 years are overstated said Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, the generic industry organization. The net reduction in vineyards since 2007 has been less than 1%, and the vineyards that have been removed were largely virused red vineyards that been too hastily planted during the period when total exports from South Africa absolutely boomed. Birch stated that South Africa is currently reducing its share of high volume very low-priced sectors of the European market and will focus more on producing higher volumes of the premium quality wines needed to compete more actively in the US and other developing markets. South African wineries are encouraged by the success in the US of brands like Excelsior and Indaba, which are now approaching the 100,000 case per annum mark, having grown depletions by 27% and 24% respectively for the past two years. This optimism in the bright future of the South African category in the US is evidenced by the investment of Charles Banks, former partner in the cult California producer, Screaming Eagle, into Mulderbosch and the ambitious plans for this estate. Mulderbosch is a member of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative and one of the many farms with land in conservation in South Africa Issued by Wines of South Africa www.wosa.co.za www.bwi.co.za www.varietyisinournature.com

	World Cup Wine Nights Starts June 16 in NYC World Cup Wine Nights: Wines of South Africa to host viewing parties in New York City.

	Total South African Experience at “The Great South African Wine Show” Wines of South Africa produced the “Great South African Wine Show” on May 11th at the glamorous Tribeca Rooftop in New York City. This was the largest tasting of South Africa wines in US history: 135 different producers poured over 700 different wines. The event was an exciting experience of South Africa, created in myriad ways: plasma screens running videos of stunning land‐ and seascapes; gigantic wall‐size banners of photographs, and hundreds of indigenous flowers, displayed on the window ledges, the floor and hanging from the skylight ceiling. The wines were complemented with a wide variety of South African dishes inspired by traditional recipes. But the true focus, of course, was on the amazing variety of high quality wines personally poured at the event by the winemakers and owners. For the event catalog, go to www.wosa.co.za/usa/promotional_material.php. To download the press release, click this headline.

	WOSA to Capitalize on Foreign Football Fever On the back of still rising wine exports that continue to defy the global downturn, generic marketing body Wines of South Africa (WOSA) is planning to capitalize on the huge foreign interest in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by bringing out journalists to cover the tournament and visit the winelands next June.