Two recent wine developments demand closer attention. Professor Kader Asmal’s appointment as chairperson of the SA Wine Council promises a renewed commitment to wine tourism. And less earth-shattering, Wines of South Africa’s (WOSA) launch of website www.varietyisinournature.com. It comes with the premise that SA’s wine offerings will appeal to a wider international audience of nature lovers, hikers and birders.

WOSA has absorbed a fair dose of scepticism recently – some blatant; other whisperings from the wings - for what some perceive as an overly-narrow marketing focus on biodiversity and wine links, especially after discouraging export figures accompanied the latest generic London tasting in October.

On the up side for potential income generation, Kader has committed the SA Wine Council to two previously neglected areas: the generic marketing of wine domestically; and the local and international promotion of wine tourism. The latter industry currently generates an estimated R4 billion annually. It’s again WOSA that is tasked with putting this into practice – hopefully with additional staff and budgets, because rumour has it that current resources are pretty stretched. Successful marketing campaigns or not, wine tourism is a growth area that requires active participation.

Sue Winter is project coordinator of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, and although developing biodiversity wine tourism takes a secondary role to setting aside hectares for conservation and bringing wine producer members onboard, she feels there’s a gap in the market. ‘There’s a great need for more tourism related to bio-diversity on wine farms. There aren’t many facilities where people can walk, hike or bike and enjoy those facilities, aside from wine tasting,’ she says. ‘A lot of wineries provide professional cellar facilities, but there’s often very little information about how best to explore the wine property, or displays of indigenous offerings in tasting rooms. Our members have been surprisingly slow to develop their own marketing initiatives, and link their biodiversity offerings to our website,’ she adds.

‘It’s an opportunity for wineries to expand their income base too. They’re not only appealing to the wine tourist and sightseer, but to local residents, bird lovers, hikers and families. Self-guided walks, bird hives, trails… These are all options. It’s about creating an experience beyond wine; something visitors will happily pay for,’ Winter explains.

Her suggestions? Delvera in Stellenbosch, as one successful wine tourism initiative. Commercial offerings capitalize on a biodiversity conservancy established by surrounding landowners such as Warwick, Laibach and Delheim. Besides a restaurant, cheesery and wine shop; an agri-tourism centre run in conjunction with Cape Nature provides guided sunset trails, regular hiking and mountain biking trails. A portion of trail fees go towards the renosterveld conservancy.

There’s also the Green Mountain Eco Route in the Elgin/Bot River area. They advertise slow spring walks incorporating food, walks and wine. ‘This is very much about creating an experience: a whole day out on foot, where owners walk with guests on their farms,’ explains Winter.

Rusticus winery near Robertson is another example, with the Pat Busch Private Nature Reserve offering nature trails regularly frequented by the hiking community. They also have game drives and a camp in their separate game reserve, rustic accommodation, a cellar and wine museum.

Winter singles out Lourensford for unique wine tourism offerings. They outsource to a specialised tour guide who conducts vineyard and indigenous forest tours with specialized bio-diversity information, and host wine and cheese tastings with great views of the 4000ha estate. A flower show is staged on the property annually, and they’re constantly clearing and rehabilitating indigenous plants. There is potential job creation in these ventures too. ‘We need more specially equipped bio-diversity guides who can inform about flora, fauna and wines,’ says Winter. ‘A good idea would be to train farm workers who show potential in a variety of areas. They’ll often have a history with the farm, know the local folklore; the medicinal properties of flowers etc.’

From Winter’s perspective, biodiversity can play an integral role in giving wine tourism a push. ‘Farms such as Lourensford are now seeing income generation from their resources, but also just understanding the value of their natural habitat,’ says Winter. ‘That’s the difference. People never saw this as valuable previously.’ Indeed.

See the Biodiversity and Wine website: www.bwi.co.za
and or www.varietyisinournature.com