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The new wave of wine tourism gateways

Monday, 3 February, 2014
Graham Howe
Winery gateways and hubs play a major role when it comes to promoting regional wine tourism. Graham Howe visits a few major new cellar-door destinations on the Cape’s wine routes to experience the new multi-faceted face of wine tourism.
The new wisdom is that wine tourism is not only about what’s in the bottle but about selling a lifestyle experience linked to the origin and “sense of place” of wine brands.

Gateways to wine routes play a huge role in drawing tourists to a specific wine route. Hubs such as Groot Constantia, Spier and Lanzerac in Stellenbosch, Simonsig and Delheim in the Simonsberg, Vergelegen in the Helderberg, Fairview in Paarl and Boschendal in Franschhoek played a pioneering role in putting specific wine routes on the map - broadening wine tourism to lifestyle attractions beyond the cellar door. With 23 wine routes and even more sub-routes, wine tourism is a competitive business. 

Out and about in the winelands, I’ve visited a number of major new gateways. A wave of modern wine tourism hubs have opened - inter alia Spice Route in Paarl, Van Loveren in Robertson, Anthonij Rupert and La Motte/Leopard’s Leap in Franschhoek and Delaire Graff in Stellenbosch. Wine tourism has come of age in the Cape with the growing sophistication of brand homes in terms of the design of tasting centres, food and wine pairings, gourmet restaurants, gastronomic offerings (delis, cheeseries, coffee roasteries and chocolatiers), luxury farm accommodation and spas, art and heritage museums, beer, distillery and family attractions. What more could you want?

Take Van Loveren. The rustic tasting rondawel and pumpkin fritters where visitors were given a whole bottle to taste on the stoep has been transformed into a showcase for innovative wine tourism as the brand home of Van Loveren and its best-selling Four Cousins range. After visiting VL for four decades I was seriously impressed by the design of the tasting centre (a soaring glass, steel and wood conservatory with a wooden deck in the heritage gardens), the deli which showcases regional artisanal produce - and a new wood-fired pizza bistro which still serves those fabulous fritters.

“This extension represents a significant investment in the region’s wine tourism and helps to establish a home for our brand - a place where wine lovers can relax,” says Van Loveren CEO Phillip Retief. “Our goal is to offer something for every visitor. The new tasting venue and bistro and the rich history of the farm creates the ideal environment where wine lovers and their families can spend many leisurely hours.”

Marketing manager Bonita Malherbe played a major role in making Robertson Wine Valley one of the top wine destinations in the country. She comments, “Increasingly Consumers seek more than a traditional wine tasting. They prefer new experiences, want to experiment and to involve all their senses. Different things motivate people to visit a wine estate and we want to give people a vibrantly different wine and outdoor experience as a way of encouraging them to spend the day out in the winelands.”

She adds, “Since re-opening in December 2012, we have experienced a 45% increase in spend per head. Having the merchandise and deli did not result in less wine sales (there were some concerns it would), only more spend per person. Our new approach results in people spending more time at Van Loveren; and the longer they linger, the greater the chance to create ambassadors (and life-long customers). By offering such a wide variety of tasting and activities in our wine tourism portfolio, we ensure that whoever comes through the door will find something that appeals to them”.

Building brand imagery, Van Loveren has developed eight food and wine tastings to promote the cellar’s well-known brands at various tiers - with innovative pairings for the legions of Four Cousins fans who come to the brand’s home; a children’s tasting of non-alcoholic Papillon sparkling wines complete with junior tasting pad and jellytots; and gourmet cheese, chocolate, charcuterie and nougat pairings with flights of the Christina van Loveren (on “the ultimate wine discovery” with flavour stations), VL and Tangled Tree brands. Welcome to the new world of wine tourism marketing.

The one-page tasting and pairing rating notes are particularly appealing with accessible guidelines for the amateur wine taster and consumer on the art of pairing the acidity, salt, sweetness and weight of wines with food. Van Loveren won both the Klink Wine Tourism Award for Family Day Out Best Child-Friendly Venue on a Wine Farm and Yin and Yang Award for Best Food and Wine Pairing in 2013 - while Spice Route won the Klink Award for Best New Cellar Door Attraction (its adjacent Diamant luxury wine farm accommodation forms part of this growing new hub).

Spice Route on the Paarl wine route is the new home of Spice Route wines - and brings the brand grown and made in the Swartland closer to the tourists. I was wowed by the way in which this new wine tourism hub captures the artisanal zeitgeist of our era - and consumer interest in the provenance of authentic wineland produce. Building on the cheese and wine attractions of neighbouring Fairview, co-owner Charles Back has transformed the old winery into a showcase and “artisanal journey” for tastings of wines, a German micro-brewery, Wilderer distillery and grapperia, DV Artisan “Bean to Bar” Chocolates, bakery and charcuterie - as well as Spice Route restaurant.

“The vision for Spice Route is to offer tourists a group of hand-picked artisanal producers, who put as much thought, skill and passion into their products, as the Spice Route winemaker, Charl du Plessis, does when crafting his wines,” says owner, Charles Back. PR manager Heike Raatz adds, “We have seen a marked increase in visitors since opening the Spice Route Destination. We have seen a significant growth in visitor’s numbers and turnover. We strategically used Fairview’s popularity and high visitor numbers to promote Spice Route next door. Both farms play a supportive role, offering visitors an extensive range of ‘things to do’ in the Paarl winelands.”

Wine tourism is not only about major investment in modern facilities. Building the cool climate brand of the Elim wine route at Cape Agulhas, Black Oyster Wines - with an artisanal restaurant, accommodation and tastings - plays a critical role as a gateway to a new wine area on one of the Cape’s major tourist routes where the two oceans really do meet. And brand homes such as Southern Right play a similar gateway role in linking wine and whale tourism on the Hermanus wine route.

The Klink Wine Tourism Awards recognise the critical role of heritage cellars in growing wine tourism - creating awards for comfort accommodation on a wine farm (Weltevrede), best heritage wine farm (won by Delheim with nominees Hartenberg, Muratie, Overgaauw and Weltevrede) and best green farm (Waverley Hills). Building on the gastronomic attraction of the top wineland restaurant of chef George Jardine, the opening of new farm cottage accommodation, mountain bike trails and artisanal bakery/deli at Jordan is a model example of how a winery can increase tourist feet to a sub-route like Stellenboschkloof - and consolidate a tourism hub and brand home.

Anthonij Rupert estate is the chic new brand home at a strategically located gateway to the Franschhoek Wine Valley (winner of the Klink Wine Tourism 2013 Award for Most Memorable Wine Route). Manager Gidi Caetano comments, “Anthonij Rupert estate has opened its doors to not one but two new cellar door experiences, each with its own unique offering tailored around the respective brands in our portfolio. By adding dimensions to our visitors experiences - an antipasto bar, espresso bar, alfresco dining space at Terra del Capo tasting room; and a high tea, heirloom rose and herb garden at Anthonij Rupert tasting room - we believe that we are able to tap into a wider demographic in sharing our brand with clients. We have seen significant growth in both sales and visitors numbers.” The vintage motor museum is another drawcard.

And for purists who may think wine tourism is straying too far beyond the core business of making and selling wine, consider the growing sophistication of wine tastings at the cellar-door from tutored vertical vintages to brands, alternate variety flights, staff knowledge and glassware. As one of the judges, I initiated a new category of Klink Wine Tourism Awards in 2012 - the Connoisseur Award for Best Cellar Tasting Experience - won by Waterford in a hotly contested race with nominees such as Bergkelder, Bouchard Finlayson, Jordan and Morgenster.

Monika Elias, convenor of the Klink Wine Tourism Awards has the last word. Writing in a column in Classic Wine (The Atmospherics of Wine Tourism, Dec/Jan 2014), she concludes, “Wine tourism effectively combines the product, sense of place and experience around wine on the farm. The wine industry has become part of the entertainment industry … enhancing opportunities for consumer engagement …. Wine tourism creates one of the most obvious links between the place where the wine is produced and its end location - in our homes and on our tables.”  

* Graham Howe was a judge in the inaugural 2012 and 2013 Klink Wine Tourism Awards - visit www.klinkawards.co.za  

Graham Howe

Graham Howe is a well-known gourmet travel writer based in Cape Town. One of South Africa's most experienced lifestyle journalists, he has contributed hundreds of food, wine and travel features to South African and British publications over the last 25 years.

He is a wine and food contributor for wine.co.za, which is likely the longest continuous wine column in the world, having published over 500 articles on this extensive South African wine portal. Graham also writes a popular monthly print column for WineLand called Howe-zat.

When not exploring the Cape Winelands, this adventurous globetrotter reports on exotic destinations around the world as a travel correspondent for a wide variety of print media, online, and radio.

Over the last decade, he has visited over seventy countries on travel assignments from the Aran Islands and the Arctic to Borneo and Tristan da Cunha - and entertained readers with his adventures through the winelands of the world from the Mosel to the Yarra.
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