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Spier launches hybrid & virtual conferencing
On 9 July 2020, one of South Africa’s leading conferencing venues, Spier Wine Farm, launched its hybrid and virtual conferencing offerings with a glittering evening enjoyed both in-person and by members of the events sector in the comfort of their homes.
Attendees were treated to a smorgasbord of treats showcasing the length and breadth of the virtual conferencing experience. These included live music streamed from Spier, a virtual Segway tour of Spier’s organic pastures, a tutorial by Chef PJ Vadas on how to make a mouth-watering Margherita pizza and an introduction to the art of mosaic. There were also belly-achingly funny acts by comedians Alan Committie and Nik Rabinowitz.
Perhaps the favourite part of the evening for most was a virtual chocolate and wine tasting presented by Spier winemaker Anton Swarts. Each launch attendee had received a box featuring Spier’s new canned Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot along with two kinds of artisanal chocolates in advance so we were able to enjoy the tasting first-hand.
Since the start of the pandemic we immediately switched to innovation mode and have been able to re-invent some parts of our business to continue serving customers,” says Spier GM, Joep Schoof. “I believe this world-class virtual offering can meet the need for people to connect. We’ve got a product that can help you get your teams or clients together in a way that feels natural and can beautifully showcase your product and facilitate business.
Meet at Spier— without leaving your desk
Through hosting your event virtually with Spier — against the backdrop Spier’s gallery of stunning farm images — hosts are able to unleash unlimited online engagements and experiences. Spier has assembled a team of experienced event producers and technical experts and uses top-notch software to ensure full, seamless support for every aspect of the event. This includes handling nitty-gritty details like participant registration, ticketing and email campaigns. During the event, Spier oversees the virtual participation platform (including live Q&A/ polls and breakout rooms), live streaming of sessions and attendance analytics.
The best of both worlds
With Spier’s fast internet and latest generation audio-visual tech, combining virtual conferencing with Spier’s classic farm hospitality in person is a breeze. This is particularly ideal given that the size of gatherings are currently limited by government regulation.
For delegates who do attend in person, Spier’s abundance of outdoor spaces and spacious venues, physical distancing is easy during meetings, breakouts and meals. The farm has developed special conferencing seat plans to accommodate physical distancing protocols and has tweaked other aspects of experience, including:
- Venues are deep cleaned after each event and used pens and notepads are recycled
- Sanitising wipes are available for delegates to use
- All food and beverage items will be individually plated and served instead of being a traditional buffet; coffee and other break items will be served
For more information on conferences at Spier, visit www.spier.co.za/conference or contact conference@spier.co.za via email.
Franschhoek’s Virtual Bastille Festival A Resounding Success
Not even COVID-19 could keep one of South Africa’s longest running festivals from taking place this year. The Franschhoek Bastille Festival, which was launched in 1994, takes place annually over the same weekend of the French Bastille festivities, and sees thousands of festival goers fill the streets of Franschhoek to celebrate the valley’s French heritage.
However, this year saw a different turn of events, and instead of cancelling the organisers saw this an opportunity to take the festival to the people. A 10-day countdown, which commenced on 1 July, took viewers through a virtual journey of the Franschhoek Valley as each day revealed a new experienced. Some of the experiences included cellar tours, a walk through the garden of Babylonstoren, a guided tour of the village, a sneak peek at the collection of vintage cars at the Franschhoek Motor Museum as well as the highly popular cook along with Franschhoek local and celebrity chef, Reuben Riffel. Linked to the daily reveals were unbelievable offers, affording the public to make use of unforgettable deals. Although only revealed on the day these offers are still available until the end of July.
Saturday, 11 July, which would have been the date for this year’s event, saw the virtual festivities wrap up with a day filled with Franschhoek celebrations. A sabrage, cooking demo, virtual wine tasting and live music show were all part of the day’s line up.
With no blueprint to work off we didn’t know what to expect, but we were blown away by the response. We had the opportunity to engage with followers who, in the past, wouldn’t have been able to attend the festival, and simply with the click of a button they were able to experience the valley through our eyes,” says Franschhoek Wine Valley CEO, Reinher Behrens. “Not only was engagement with our followers crucial, but we have also grown our social media following substantially across all of our platforms, which these days is key in getting your message out to the greater public. We reached just over 500 000 people in total via our relevant social media platform with this campaign.”
Distell plays chess to beat lockdown wine glut
At a centuries-old vineyard overlooked by South Africa’s Drakenstein mountain, the country’s biggest single wine exporter Distell is battling a problem of plenty.
Prestigious wines, such as Nederburg, are bottled at the vineyard in Paarl, just outside Cape Town, and shipped locally and worldwide.
But the shipping can’t keep pace with the combined impact of an abundant harvest and lockdown disruption that has led to a glut that sits maturing in French oak barrels or stored in metal vats at wine estates.
South Africa, one of the top 10 wine producers, has around 240 million litres of stock across the industry, said executives at Distell, which itself has 40 million litres.
It is a massive problem… that could take at least two years to resolve,” Distell CEO Richard Rushton said.
He told an investor call in June the impact on prices in the industry could be severe and said the company had lost some of its listings in wine outlets abroad as exports were halted.
South Africa also banned domestic alcohol sales as part of lockdown restrictions begun in March. Early in June it allowed sales during limited trading hours, but President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed a sales ban from July 13 as new infections surged.
Industry body Vinpro said some 3 billion rand ($177.54 million) in sales had been lost in the first nine weeks of restrictions. Exports have resumed, but there is a backlog in the Cape Town port, it said.
Rushton said Distell hoped online sales would help and it has also begun producing alcohol-based sanitisers.
Even in the best of times, managing wine stocks in finite cellar space requires thinking a few moves ahead, but not usually as many.
When you start off with oversupply, then it’s chess from day one,” Distell’s head winemaker Niel Groenewald said.
He faces a situation unprecedented in his two decades of experience and perhaps since the founding of the Nederburg estate in 1791. ($1 = 16.8972 rand) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Emma Rumney; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Barbara Lewis) – From: Reuters
California wineries and restaurants told to shut indoor spaces
California’s governor has told all wineries and restaurants across to shut indoor spaces after a spike in coronavirus cases in the state, but outdoor tastings are still happening in several areas, including Napa Valley.
Governor Gavin Newsom said this week that wineries and restaurants across California can no longer allow visitors and diners inside. Bars must close completely, he said, amid concerns about a rise in Covid-19 cases across the state.
California had been pursuing a phased relaxation of lockdown restrictions, but the move is the latest sign of how a path to recovery from an initial wave of Covid-19 cases may not be straightforward. In Napa Valley, wineries and restaurants have only been serving visitors outdoors since 9 July, following concerns about a localised spike in cases.
Tourism body Visit Napa Valley said hotels and retail shops were still operating and that wineries and restaurants were still open for outdoor service. Reservations must be made in advance for wine tastings.
Most wineries had already expanded their outdoor tasting areas prior to the indoor shut down,’ said Teresa Wall, of Napa Valley Vintners. She said new measures were therefore a ‘hiccup but not a major hurdle’ for most wineries.
Our amazing shows this week…
ABOUT THE WINELANDS welcomes Arco Laarman, Founder and Owner of Laarman Wines. After nearly a decade as cellarmaster of an elite Paarl based estate and creating award-winning wines, acclaimed South African winemaker Arco Laarman ventured out and created Laarman Wines to further his passion for the art of winemaking.
LAARMAN WINES released their first wines from the 2017 vintage. The release of the Focal Point was in the pipeline for more than 18 months. The Cluster Series, Laarman’s maiden brand release, pays tribute to the spirit of collaboration that has defined and inspired him over his 20-year career in the South African wine industry. READ MORE HERE
LAARMAN WINES, One grape alone can’t fill a bottle of wine!
ABOUT THE WINELANDS welcomes De Bruyn Steenkamp, Owner of FRIESLAND Wines, Stellenbosch. De Bruyn is a lawyer by trade with a Master’s degree in International trade law, and a member of the Institute of Cape Wine Masters. De Bruyn manages the Sales and Marketing of Friesland wines.
FRIESLAND WINES – The name Friesland was derived from a province in the northern part of the Netherlands which honours the Dutch heritage of the first Steenkamp’s who settling in the Cape during the late 1600’s. Located in the Bottelary Hills outside of Stellenbosch, and owned by the Steenkamp family since 1999, which was purchased by Kosie Steenkamp, father to De Bruyn. READ MORE HERE
FRIESLAND WINES, valuing the Personal Touch
The About The Winelands – Don’t miss out, subscribe here
Discovered by our Winelands Spy…
Dry Skies Ahead
Some major U.S. airlines have restricted alcohol service during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rules are not simple. If you have plans to get on a flight any time soon, a glass of wine might not be in the cards. Major airlines, including American, Delta, United and Southwest have made big adjustments to their alcohol service policies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes are part of an effort to minimize passenger-employee interaction.
Nearly every airline has limited their in-flight food and beverage service in some way. Whether you can have a drink on your next flight will depend on your airline, seat and travel distance. (Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations state that, “No person may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage to him.”)
If you want a drink on American Airlines, it depends where you sit. First-class passengers on all flights can request alcoholic beverages, but they’re only available to other seating sections on long-haul international flights. No matter where you’re seated on the aircraft, snacks and meals are only served on long-haul international flights.
As for service on the ground, club members can still get a drink at American’s lounges, some of which just reopened on June 22. When it comes to social distancing in the sky, the airline is not blocking off middle seats and announced this week it would be filling planes to full capacity again soon. (None of the airlines would comment.)
On Delta, it’s all about mileage. After initially removing alcoholic beverage service on domestic or short-haul international flights in any seating section, the company announced this week that domestic first-class and Delta Comfort+ customers will begin to see complimentary beer and wine on any flight over 500 miles starting July 2. Passengers on these routes will also receive a bag with bottled water, snacks and hand sanitizer.
Our goal is to serve all of our food and beverage offerings in the safest way possible—both for our customers and employees,” said Allison Ausband, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service, in a statement. “We take pride in always listening to our customers, and we know beer and wine are the adult beverages our customers want most. These selections are the first step towards a normalized beverage offering while we continue to keep customer and crew safety at the center of everything we do.”
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