Wine makers got down and bubbly in a hot tub. Wine.co.za decided to unleash their wild(er) side by embracing fun and mayhem and bringing a sense of frivolity to our usual Spotlight offerings. Gathering four of SA’s top MCC makers from Graham Beck, Weltevrede, Boschendal and Chabivin, Judy and the team made use of Sante Wellness Spa’s hot tub and filmed ‘The Bare necessities of bubbly making’. The video which featured lots of bubbles was a smash hit and paves the way for more outlandish looks into South Africa’s great wine industry. This wasn’t the only video we produced. This year alone, we’ve produced over 100 videos for our clients. Yes, for reel! We’re even more sociable. Pinterest has been added to Wine.co.za’s social media belt, offering food pairing ideas, wine knowledge boards, a place to find out about wine events and how to distinguish between grape varieties. It further adds to wine.co.za’s passion for teaching and helping consumers learn more about wine. We’ve said hello to 2 new people: Zwai Gumede joined in June and has become the new mascot of Wine.co.za. Don’t let his size fool you, he will gladly tackle a rabid wild boar if it meant getting his hands on a glass of wine. Hailing from ‘up north’ in KZN, he has brought an impish spark to our already legendary team and he devotes his time to marketing our Shop and keeping our Facebook page on top. Shante Hutton joined us in October bringing with her a sarcastic flair and penchant for putting food and wine together. Shante has become our sole News Editor and our news stories have taken a new slant with emphasis on reaching the consumer in a lighter, brighter way to fully show them how awesome wine and the winelands are. Shop tactics. Our shop team has been very busy this year garnering new stock and stepping up on our customer communication with special promotions and competitions. We currently average 74 new subscribers every quarter since May this year and this number is rising dramatically. Some believe that the 21st December marks the end of the world and being the generous, caring people that we are, we couldn’t allow you to face that alone without some fortification. We’ve got the perfect end-of-the-world wines and, come 22nd December if you’re still here, we’ll help you celebrate and toast in a new year with more delicious offerings. Our most popular wineries of the year in the shop have been Cederberg, Raka, Villiera and Ernie Els. Statistically speaking, we continue to be alive and kicking. Our advertising sales were buzzing with Michelle at the helm and last month we reached 50,000 unique visitors to our website with 50% still being international visitors. Comparing our own stats from June 2012 when we were averaging a total of 38000 visitors, we saw a rise to 42000 in November which gives us yet another reason to raise our glasses. The top 3 most visited wineries listed on Wine.co.za, based on number of pages served, were Nederburg, Hamilton Russell Vineyards and J.C. Le Roux. Cheers to you three. We have a continuously growing client base of over 200 clients with 33 using our CellarDirect option which is a plug-in shop that can be used on your wineries website for free. Designer looks We have developed 7 new websites this year for De Wetshof, Du Toitskloof, Ernie Els, Meerlust, Villiera, Rijks, Mhudi and La Vierge making it a total of 49 websites under the Wine.co.za design team belt. We’ve made awesome changes to our Spotlight layout and press rooms and even the Spotlight emailers have had some extra sparkle added. We’re currently featuring some funky adverts from Origin on our Website which is fitting as their 10 year birthday was definitely this year’s coolest party at the Grand Café, featuring Johnny Clegg and the wonderful Three Tons of Fun amongst others! Now pop open the bubbly and let's celebrate the passing of a great year.