THE SCOOP SEEING RED It’s only been commercially available locally since 2004 but KWV Roodeberg is one of the country’s most recognised and sought after blended red wines – and it is 70 this year. To mark this 70th anniversary the brand has been given a suitable packaging upgrade. Made for the first time in 1949, the wine was intended to be an honest expression of a Cape red – and was the product of Dr Charles Niehaus, one of the South African wine industry’s pioneers. As the chief wine scientist at the KWV Niehaus succeeded Professor Abraham Perold, the man who “invented” Pinotage by crossing the grapes Pinot Noir and Hermitage – or Cinsaut. From the onset, the composition of the Roodeberg blend was shrouded in secrecy. Roodeberg was openly referred to as a secret blend with a blending panel tasked to determine the final configuration, taking care to achieve consistency with every vintage. After Dr Niehaus retired in 1971, the blend generally comprised Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage and Tinta Barocca, according to the Platter Wine Guide of the time. In the 1990s, Roodeberg’s evolution continued with the introduction of small French oak maturation barrels. According to the January 1986 Wynboer, for South Africans abroad, a glass of Roodeberg was like a hug from home. The same still rings true today. For many Roodeberg conjures up fond memories of people, places and occasions, and of sharing special moments with family and friends, often with rare vintages squirreled away.
4 w w w .t o p s a t s p a r. c o . z a
Branded bottle openers available at the SAB World of Beer in Newtown, Johannesburg
RAISING A CAP TO BEER Life is all about evolution. As humans have evolved, so have the tools we use. In years gone by beer cans had ring top pulls which were removed. Then it was redesigned so the pull tab remained part of the can and wasn’t disposed of. Bottles have seen swing top with glass or porcelain marbles make way to the crown cap which needed an opener to be removed. But are bottle openers obsolete now? “Beer has featured throughout the history of South Africa and continues to be an important part of society,” said Tshepo Tloubatla, SAB Beer Culture Manager at SAB and AB InBev Africa. “So never fear, your bottle opener isn’t ever going to become an ornament!” Which came first – the bottle cap, or the bottle opener? While there are variations to the origin, the widely accepted theory is that both the bottle cap and opener were invented by the same man: William Painter. Before Painter made his brilliant invention, beer was either stopped with a cork or a swing top – the issue with these were that they were reusable, sparking all manner of hygienic issues
as well as horribly flat beer. So history states the bottle cap (or crown cap as it was known at the time) and the bottle opener were invented simultaneously. Soon after, all bottle producers began to use the crown cap and thus the market for bottle openers was established. Cheaply produced but widely used, these openers eventually became branded and by the early 1900s there was tremendous competition between Pabst, Miller, and Anheuser-Busch to take control of this new market. In the last 50-years, an alternative was invented – the twist off cap. And while this cap is used more and more, especially with bigger brewers, twist off caps aren’t as fragile as they once were and can still be opened with a bottle opener. The AB InBev international brands still come with the age-old pry off cap, which is best suited to preserve the beer for the long distance it must travel to get to your home. SAB provides a multitude of branded openers, including Carling Black Label, Stella Artois, Castle Milk Stout, Castle Lager and Flying Fish, with which to open your favourite tipple.
