Neil Pendock chats to John Woodward, director of The Wine Show Jo’burg that takes place at Gallagher Convention Centre this month You pioneered wine
show retail in the face of fierce opposition but now everyone seems to be doing it. Have you been proven right Absolutely so. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery! To us, it was a no-brainer. If a consumer finds a wine they like, of course they’ll want a few bottles (or cases) and likewise exhibitors need some return on the costs of exhibiting. We’re still unique in this regard, however, as successive years have shown The Wine Show offers the highest visitor-spend of any other wine show. That’s a fact we’re very proud of and perhaps why we are growing whilst exhibitor bookings are down for other shows. What’s next Naked winemaking Ha! Ha! I guess you are referring to our charity initiative this year, Neil We’re working with Getpix Images & Photographic Academy on a project called “Wine Laid Bare”. The public are encouraged to get out their cameras and interpret the theme however they choose. The best images will be put into a calendar (along the style of Calendar Girls) which will be sold to raise funds for breast cancer at the show. It appealed to us as an event that aims to “strip away the snobbishness” surrounding wine. It’s been phenomenally successful with some incredible photos being submitted … we’ve even had moms and daughters posing! I particularly loved your entry, Neil, but you might want to rethink that bow-tie…