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Cheers to African Beer Cup winner
Gqeberha’s Richmond Hill Brewing Co. – or RHBC to its many friends and customers – was the overall winner at the 2023 African Beer Cup held in Woodstock, Cape Town recently.
Cheers to African Beer
Cup winner
Gqeberha’s Richmond Hill Brewing Co. – or RHBC to its many friends and customers – was the overall winner at the 2023 African Beer Cup held in Woodstock, Cape Town recently. The brew adjudged Best Beer in Africa was Barrel Aged Sour, a dark ale aged in Shiraz barrels with raspberries and peaches.
The competition, launched in 2019 by beer judge, writer and editor, Lucy Corne and her husband Shawn Duthie, attracted 232 entries from 20 different countries – a new record. IPA was the most popular category entered, Corne reported, followed by international lager and Pale American Ale.
Operating on the Olympic system of only one gold, one silver and one bronze medal awarded per category, a total of 60 medals overall were conferred – with just 13 of those being gold. Corne said quality and scoring were non-negotiable which explained why some categories did not have any golds awarded.
In the final round for the overall winner, all golds competed against each other, regardless of category.
“The African Beer Cup has quickly become the most prestigious beer competition in Africa,” said RHBC founder and brewer, Niall Cook. “To have a beer collect an award in the competition is an amazing achievement. To further walk away with the Best Beer in Africa Award for 2023 is on another level! Everyone at RHBC is on an all-time high,” he said.
“We are extremely proud as a company and are thankful for all our supporters who have driven us to reach these new heights.”
Again demonstrating that it is pushing beer boundaries, the African Beer Cup made a special award for a beer showcasing traditional African ingredients. The 2023 BASA African Celebration Award went to Soul Barrel Brewing in the Cape Winelands for the African Wild Soul, a collaboration with Tolokazi Beer. It’s a first-of-its-kind blend of farmhouse ale and umqombothi (traditional sorghum beer), aged in wine barrels for two years.
Darling Brew's Angelique Kieser grabs a gold for fruit beer
Gold medal winners were: Darling Brew – Just Naked (non-alcoholic beer), Boet beer brewery – international lager, Swakopmund Brewing company – Helles beer (pale malty European lager), Okavango craft brewery of Botswana – Panhandle Pale (British Bitter), Ilesa Brewery of Nigeria – Trophy Extra Special Stout (Dark British beer), 1000 Hills Brewing Co. – The FES (Strong British Ale), Afro Caribbean Brewing Co. – Grootslang (American Porter & Stout), Specialty Beers (Ghana) - Tale 5, Farmhouse Ale (Strong Belgian Ale), Charlie’s Garage – Triple Trubel (Monastic Ale), Darling Brew – Tjaila Groovy Grapefruit (Fruit Beer), Soul Barrel Brewing –Wild African Soul (Alternative Fermentable beer) and Richmond Hill Brewing Co. – Lemon Yellow Sun (Specialty Beer).
Images by Marla Burger Photography
Richmond Hill founder Niall Cook (Credit: RHBC)
The wheels go round for chenin
Cyclists could have their best ever pre-winter mountain bike safari courtesy of the Cape winelands’ chenin blanc producers.
The wheels go round for chenin
Cyclists could have their best-ever pre-winter mountain bike safari courtesy of the Cape Winelands’ Chenin Blanc producers.
For the month of May and into June, mountain bikers and chenin blanc enthusiasts are able to create their own wine and bike itineraries, stopping off at any of the 30 participating Chenin Safari wine farms across the Cape Winelands. Choosing a farm, they pop into the tasting facility and then upload a photograph of their visit as proof.
“It’s a win-win whichever way you look at it,” explained Christina Harvett, manager of the Chenin Blanc Association, organisers of the Chenin Safari. “You could be in line for some great prizes or just have some terrific, fitness-boosting cycling fun over the course of a few weeks.
“Visit a total of six Chenin Safari stops during the period, upload the images taken at each stop and participants could earn a designer #Drink Chenin cycling shirt. That’s why it’s essential to register for the Chenin Safari and provide your cycling top size from the get-go,” she said. Visit more than six and luxury boutique getaway prizes, wine and gourmet hampers and more prizes could be won!
Participating wine farms are located across a major swathe of the Cape winelands, from the West Coast to Darling, Swartland, Bottelary, Stellenbosch, Helderberg, Simondium, Paarl, Franschhoek, Worcester, Wellington, Rawsonville, Tulbagh and Villiersdorp, as well as the Breedekloof and the Du Toitskloof mountains.
Wineries can be visited independently or timed to coincide with organised Chenin Crew pre-scheduled group events. For details of entries and events visit https://chenin.co.za/cheninsafari.
Credit: Rene Hefer
Mitch Tobias
Maximum impact
Marketing and branding campaigns that have impact are recognised annually in the yearly SABRE awards, with SABRE standing for Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation & Engagement.
Maximum Impact
Marketing and branding campaigns that have an impact are recognised annually in the yearly SABRE awards, with SABRE standing for Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation & Engagement. The intention is to recognise the marketing, PR and communications industry’s most compelling work. The focus is on initiatives which result in real business impact.
Consequently, Coca-Cola Beverage South Africa (CCBSA) is over the moon that it's More Than Water documentary campaign was singled out as the overall winner of the food and beverage category in 2023.
Public affairs, communication and sustainability director for CCBSA, Nozicelo Ngcobo said access to clean, running water remained a challenge for many rural and peri-urban communities in South Africa.
The award-winning documentary, More Than Water, marks CCBSA’s journey in improving water sustainability within its business, and manufacturing processes, and its role in helping to restore water across SA’s key watersheds to improve water security in the communities in which it operates.
Coke Ville, which launched in 2020 with three systems in Limpopo, has expanded to a total of 32 sites across the country, including Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Each project is designed to provide these communities with 10-20 million litres of water annually. To date, over 400 million litres have been distributed to over 25 000 households throughout the country.
Coke Ville is part of the Coca-Cola Company’s water stewardship strategy 2030, which is a three-pronged strategy to water, primarily focusing on regenerative operations, healthy watersheds, and resilient communities. CCBSA’s efforts in South Africa show how a global strategy can be turned into concrete local programmes that can enhance the quality of life.
“Water stewardship is not just about helping to create a better future for our country, but it is also about making our business stronger and more resilient,” Ncgobo added.
(To view the full More Than Water video: www.youtube.com)
Walking to success
Thabiso Molonyama, founder of The Everyday Bar in Pretoria, has beat out his competition to win an exclusive three night Johnnie Walker Black Label experience in Scotland.
Walking to success
Thabiso Molonyama, the founder of The Everyday Bar in Pretoria, has beat out his competition to win an exclusive three-night Johnnie Walker Black Label experience in Scotland.
Molonyama is the South African cocktail mixologist who was deemed Africa's winner for this year's Johnnie Walker Global Bartender Challenge. Overall the competition saw 200 entries from 47 countries competing for the top four regional slots. (The other three were Asia and Australasia, South and Central America, and Europe.)
His winning cocktail, Nimbus Moon, is a perfectly poised mix of Johnnie Walker Black label, Aperol, orange bitters, lemon yuzu cranberry juice.
“I can’t believe I won,” said Molonyama before his departure to Scotland. “I'm still waiting for someone to tell me it’s a prank!”
“As for the cocktail, I wanted the woodiness and fruitiness of the Johnnie Walker Black label to shine through. My aim was to showcase the versatility of Johnnie Walker Black; keeping it simple and yet complex in experience,” he said.
Lightly pink
Never underestimate the appeal of a pale pink hue, a light petillance or bubble and even lighter alcohol levels.
Lightly pink
Never underestimate the appeal of a pale pink hue, a light petillance or bubble and even lighter alcohol levels.
Two recent wine releases fit that bill perfectly: Perdeberg’s Lighthearted sparkling rosé and Bonnievale’s The River Collection Rosé Moscato Perlé.
Perdeberg’s pink sparkler is unfussy, lower in alcohol and offers up “aromas of fresh cherries, candyfloss and berries … a celebration in a bottle!”, the media release states. Although there is no specific information on the grapes used, the alcohol level clocks in a shade over 9%.
Bonnievale describes its new wine as “light-bodied and deliciously fruity” saying that it’s set to become a popular all-rounder because of its suggestion of bubbles, dusky pink colour and bags of berry flavour and 8.5% alcohol level.
According to Bonnievale wines group CEO John Barnardt, the wine was added to The River Collection in response to the surge in demand for low- alcohol wines, complemented by perlé wines that are flavourful and well made. “As consumers have become familiar with the excellence of Bonnievale’s wines, sales of our perlé rosé are soaring,” he said.
The sweeter style rosé gets its abundance of flavour from the Muscat de Frontignan grapes used in its making.
Liquid rewards
There’s a new game in town: the inaugural South African Bar & Beverage Awards which is being held for the first time in 2023.
Liquid rewards
There’s a new game in town: the inaugural South African Bar & Beverage Awards which is being held for the first time in 2023.
The goal is to recognise the country’s best cocktail bars, most accomplished drinks makers and local beverage producers with a gala event later this year.
The call for nominations has gone out and entries for the beverage categories close on June 15. Any brand, distributor or agency can submit an entry for their product by visiting the website www.barandbeverageawards.co.za.
“We anticipate these categories to be highly coveted, and an exciting component of the awards,” said Paul Reynell, director of the Bar & Beverage Awards. “It’s important to recognise the individuals and companies that support the bar industry and drive service excellence, and we’re delighted to provide a platform for them to showcase their accomplishments.”
While the honours for best new local spirit will no doubt be hotly contested, there are a range of other categories under consideration. They include best brand campaign, best CSI campaign, best brand manager, best sales representative, best new local cocktail ingredient and best local liqueur or spirit aperitif.
The beverage categories run adjacent to the bar categories, which focus on celebrating excellence within the on-trade, and include awards such as Best Bartender and Best Cocktail Bar. The bar categories were open to public nominations, before being judged by the same panel of industry experts.
“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate on an awards programme that prioritises an ethical approach at every step, and proud of the comprehensive nomination-and-judging system we’ve designed,” said head judge Leah van Deventer. “Not only have we thoroughly vetted our judges, but we’ll screen each nomination to ensure they comply with our well thought out category outlines. Additionally, judges will be recused where they have a conflict of interest.”
Co-operation for the win
A rising tide floats all boats, so the saying goes but genuine co-operation for the collective good is a rare thing in South Africa.
Co-operation for the win
A rising tide floats all boats, so the saying goes but genuine co-operation for the collective good is a rare thing in South Africa.
But there are two bold examples of the success that collaboration can bring – both of them involving wine regions as well as sauvignon blanc. The first is the Durbanville wine route which has just released the second bottling of its wine collaboration.
The second Durbanville sauvignon blanc, a 2023 vintage, has just hit the market and all indications are that this wine will be as well received as the maiden bottling was last year. The initial 10 000 bottles, with their distinctive blue and white regional labels, sold out in just six months. Making the wine unique is that all 13 members of the Durbanville wine route contribute to the regional blend.
“It has been consistent recognition over many decades that inspired the wine project that would tell our story and the launch of Durbanville sauvignon blanc,” explains Durbanville Wine Valley manager Natasha de Villiers. “The idea was essentially to create a Super Sauvignon that represented Durbanville Wine Valley’s world-class quality and the shared vision of our producers.”
Contributing wine were Altydgedacht, Bloemendal, Canto, D'Aria, De Grendel, Diemersdal, Durbanville Hills, Groot Phesantekraal, Klein Roosboom, Maastricht, Meerendal, Nitida and Signal Gun. The final blend was then compiled by De Grendel winemaker Morgan Steyn.
“The 2023 vintage is a true expression of the Durbanville terroir and the different winemaking styles in the valley,” Steyn said. “It’s a project that is always done with great excitement and teamwork. Ultimately, the wine showcases the camaraderie between the wineries and what we all stand for.”
Similarly, the Constantia wine route members contribute to the success of négociant Wade Bales’ regional series. Beginning in 2018, Bales set out to make a wine which truly expressed the Constantia region. “I wanted to be able to take a single bottle of wine, put it in front of tourists or foreign visitors, and say: ‘This represents the best of Constantia’ – and have them fully understand and appreciate what it’s about.”
The Wade Bales Constantia White is somewhat different to Durbanville’s in that it’s a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, with the ratio varying each year depending on the vintage conditions. Each year, a different Constantia winemaker puts the blend together with submissions from fellow Constantia wine farms. Participants include Constantia Glen, Buitenverwachting, Constantia Royale, Silvermist, Eagle’s Nest, Groot Constantia, Steenberg and Beau Constantia.