Women’s Day 2022: You strike a woman, you strike a rock

It never fails to amaze me just how resilient and tenacious women all over the world and in South Africa are! You might find this a strange statement and possibly regard me as a die-hard feminist, but consider this:

Women’s Day, celebrated on 9 August in South Africa, pays tribute to the formidable courage of the 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest the ignominy of the country’s Pass Laws Act. This year’s theme is ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’, recognising the contribution of women and girls around the world in building a more sustainable future for all.

The reality is that women around the world are working on efforts to achieve gender equality by 2030. Can you imagine that there is still this level of gender disparity? We are indeed very patient, maybe too patient. Taking the passion and determination shown by the women of 1956 as our example, we need to have these candid conversations with the men in our lives, allowing them to understand how we truly feel.

Diversity in a team creates opportunities for innovation and the ability to tackle complex problems! Women are integral to success, and it is my considered belief that they are generally more inclined to listen in group surrounds, allowing for greater participation and enhancing the team’s overall abilities.

Certainly, at Creation we do not always have a consensus! Each person is actively encouraged to bring her/his own valuable ideas in helping to solving complex problems which, in turn is an integral part of our innovation. I feel genuinely honoured to work with such a remarkable team of women and to recognise the leadership qualities they show in their lives. And there are countless examples in our team of real acts of support and kindness. I believe education is what will transform women’s lives and create a better future for South African women.

At Creation we continue to encourage all women to take advantage of each and every opportunity to improve their lives and equally those of their daughters and sons. We are very proud of Thandi, Vuyiseko and Zizo who have recently completed their studies in food safety, studying and working at the same time whilst nurturing their families.  

Happy Women’s Day and keep up the great work and your awesome support for each other! 

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5 Grande Dames of Cape Wine Marketing by the Wine Goggler, Emile Joubert

I have never known what to make of a month dedicated to honouring and paying tribute to women. This is just such a natural thing to do, it would appear, and for various reasons. One being that I come from a family of formidable women, including a half-Irish mother who was the first wine magazine editor in the country and is the only person I know who could recite five pages from James Joyce’s Ulysses without blinking. Click here to read the complete article.

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Let the Good Things Grow

The GEN-Z team visited us over the past few days to assist with the planting of a new Chardonnay clone. Once the vines are in production, they will be looking for potential differences in phenology, ripening and yields. Here are some comments from Emma Carkeek.

The purpose of the GEN-Z demo is to provide growers in Hemel-en-Aarde (HEA) with more information about a wide spectrum of CY clones and their performance under HEA conditions (most importantly climate but also the soil type). Ultimately we hope that it will assist with decision making when planting a new vineyard for longevity. Climate is of course changing (seemingly not that slowly) and the project is long term but we hope after five to eight seasons we will be able to identify some trends. For example, does one clone bud more evenly, ripen earlier than others, or retain acid, or demonstrate less susceptibility to fungal disease.

Very simply, part of managing vineyards in a changing climate is figuring out how to maintain consistent performance and retain quality under a different set of conditions. Better understanding of the suitability of clones, cultivars and rootstocks to a wide variety of conditions is part of the process.