Tim James: WoSA’s success with Cape Wine and its retreat to dubious cliché

Much of the local industry – and a good bunch of international importers, media and the like – was involved this last week in Cape Wine 2025, the massive jamboree held for the wine-trade over three days in the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Wines of South Africa (WoSA) clearly did a great organising job; it all looked good and seemed to run very smoothly, and producers I spoke to seemed happy with the attendance – particularly important at this tough time for the industry. On which note, perhaps worth mentioning that – I was told – Canadians were better represented than usual, looking for replacements for their cancelled US imports in the face of what seems to be a sigificant anti-Trumpist boycott. And, a tiny slice of success: I wrote last week about the new brand from Lammershoek, Zwartwater, and Stefan Johannes seemed well pleased with international interest when showing it for the first time.

Many international visitors had much else wineish to do beyond their days at the show – visiting across the winelands as well as attending various ancillary events organised by trade groups and individual properties (whether or not they were also at Cape Wine, or just attempting to hijack a bit of international attention). Local media got a look in at some of those, and one that I attended is worth mentioning while in congratulatory mode. Meerlust held a party, largely for their best customers, to celebrate 50 years of this great old family estate (owned by Myburghs since 1757) selling wine under its own label: Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon 1975 was the first. A happy event, with plenty of old wine to taste – and enjoy in many cases and, in a few, to at least compliment on being alive.

So when this morning there landed on my email doormat a message from WoSA entitled “PRESS RELEASE: There’s sunshine inside” I expected to find a cheerful and allowably self-congratulatory report on Cape Wine.  But no. It was an announcement of a “bold new global brand identity” for the export promoter: “There’s Sunshine Inside”. More than bold, I was informed, this is “an electrifying positioning” that “captures the heart of South African wine – vibrant, resilient, and bursting with optimism”.

There’s sunshine inside what? A bottle of South African wine, presumably.

Oh dear. Oh dear. If there is any cliché in wine marketing that is more weary than the link between sunshine and wine, I don’t know it. To re-introduce it (with a logo that to me looks pretty old-fashioned too) is about as bold, new, and electrifying as the latest governmental promises of joy to come. “Sunshine in a bottle” is merely the more explicit origin of WoSA’s electrifying formulation. It’s the phrase that I remember as particularly associated with wildly successful Australian wine 20 and more years ago, in the heyday of, especially, Britain’s love affair with very ripe, often oaky and a touch sweetish wine. We knew about it in South Africa because there were forces within the industry trying to push Cape wine down that same route in order to make it more internationally saleable. Fortunately that push didn’t substantially succeed and international taste for the big and ultra-ripe has waned somewhat.

As well as a cliché, “sunshine in a bottle” has become a rather discredited concept because of those implications of bigness and ripeness. So what on earth is WoSA doing by dragging it out like this and trying to attach it as a label to South African wine? I suspect it will be met with something like ridicule around the world – with the loudest sniggers in Australia perhaps. 

WoSA thinks that “There’s sunshine inside” conveys a lot more, and maybe it will to some. I hope for the sake of the wine industry that I’m wrong about the ineptitude. It would be great if it does convey what the organisation hopes: “South Africa’s spirit: the warmth of its people, the richness of its culture, and the brilliance of its wines. Crafted under abundant sunshine and diverse terroirs, South African wines deliver bold fruit, crisp acidity, and an unmistakable sense of place. They reflect an industry thriving through innovation, sustainability, diversity and inclusivity in a competitive global market.” But that’s a lot for a suspect cliché to convey. (And they could check the grammar of wines “crafted under … diverse terroirs”.)

The press release promises “a unified message rolling out across export markets in 2026”. A “refreshed identity on WoSA’s website and social platforms” is promised for today. And if you want to spend a minute looking at sunny vineyards, happy wine drinkers, Cape Dutch homesteads, beaming black faces, and suchlike electrifying and bold new imagery, the new WoSA Brand Video shows “the concept come to life”. Incidentally, it does show the logo prettily unfolding, which helped me belatedly understand (I’m often a bit slow) that the stylised sunrise is also a protea. So, er, cool!

• Tim James is one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators, contributing to various local and international wine publications. His book Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution appeared in 2013.