There is a reasonable argument that the criticism is no longer constructive and has become damaging. It is also broadcasting a potentially divisive image to wine buyers and influencers in major export markets. Many questions arise, including the challenges wine marketers face on the international stage. Not least – as noted by Neal Martin of the Wine Advocate – are the perceptions created in customers’ minds from decades of negative publicity surrounding apartheid, crime and corruption, not to mention scandals like illegal wine additives. Martin, who was recently in South Africa to judge for the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, feels that memories of negative events still linger and are bound up in the mental processes that precede the decision to buy. “You need to be a bit more positive about your own wines and have a bit more confidence in them, because in the end that is what people want to hear about. You need to sell personalities, people buy stories,” says Martin. These are the perceptions WOSA and its exporting members must face – that’s after they have overcome a global recession, a strong Rand, global oversupply, retailer and producer consolidation and a highly competitive and dynamic export market. Click here to continue reading this post on Hunter Gatherer Vintner.