SA wine steals limelight at international competition S
outh African wines excelled at one of the most celebrated competitions for sauvignon blanc in the world and won eleven gold and nine silver medals. Tokara’s Reserve Collection sauvignon blanc 2020 made history when it was awarded the Dubourdieu trophy for the best competing sauvignon blanc at the 12th Concours Mondial du Sauvignon. It is the first time ever in the history of this competition that a South African wine has claimed this title. “South Africa is now truly becoming a major player in sauvignon blanc in the world,” says RJ Botha, Chairman of Sauvig non Blanc SA. “Congratulations to Tokara on this exceptional achievement and all the other participants who excelled and flew the South African flag high on this international stage. It is years of hard work that are now beginning to bear fruit. We are delighted with the diversity of our wine industry that is reflected in the results.” Stuart Botha, winemaker at Tokara, says they chose to release the 2020 vintage later in the year to enable more time
on the lees and the decision has paid off handsomely. “The wine has a fantastic textural element on the palate,” he says. “This is the X factor that I’ve been searching for. Flavours and aromas from the Tokara Highlands property have always been super expressive, so it is great to have captured all these elements in this special vintage. We always believed that the Tokara Highlands site has immense potential and it is lovely to see that realised at such a prestigious competition.” Over 1 200 wines were tasted by an acclaimed panel of judges over four days with only one aim in mind – to select wines of irreproachable quality. Because of the pandemic, strict safety measures were applied throughout the event, from the table lay-out to serving the wines and disinfecting of the equipment. All of the wines entered for the competition were tasted and scored using the tasting form developed by Concours Mondial’s technical directors based on the model devised by the OIV and the International Oenologists’ Association.
Digital technologies show major promise The Climate Corporation, Bayer’s digital farming arm, has announced the commercial launch of its digital farming platform, Climate FieldView™, in South Africa. Adopted by farmers in more than 20 countries and on more than 60 million subscribed hectares globally, this new addition marks a milestone for the company as its first expansion onto the African continent. As the world becomes hotter and hungrier, farmers are pursuing new solutions to help produce the food, feed and fuel that power the planet. With the FieldView platform, The Climate Corporation and Bayer Crop Science are pioneering the digital agriculture industry to help farmers actively manage risk and increase productivity while simplifying their operations. Through its suite of easy-to-use data collection and analysis tools, it offers farmers a single platform to unite data from each
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piece of their precision equipment, including tractors, planters, sprayers and combines and access those insights from anywhere with a smartphone, tablet device or computer. “Digital technologies are showing major promise in the agriculture industry and have the power to unlock many valuable insights on the farm, but the use of technology can sometimes be intimidating,” said John Raines, chief commercial officer at The Climate Corporation. “With FieldView, we work to ensure our product is both easy to access and easy to use, so farmers can take control of their own data and utilize these insights to make more informed decisions.” To get started, customers can connect field data through the Climate FieldView drive device, a piece of hardware that farmers can insert into a diagnostic port in the cab of their precision equipment. Farmers can also upload data generated by their equipment directly into their account through the data inbox tool, which does not require the use of the drive. All users have full control of their farm data. They choose if, how and when to share their agronomic information. If they feel it benefits their operations, farmers can choose to share their insights with a trusted agronomic partner to help make data-driven business decisions. Tyson Zunkel, a producer from Bergville said: “We immediately saw a difference in more precision, better yield and a return on investment.” For more information, visit www.climate.com.
MAY • JUNE 2021 | SA VEGETABLES & FRUIT
