Predicted restaurant trends for this year may have their vinous equivalents

MICHAEL Said of brandstrategy.co.za is a restaurant consultant who attended last year's National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. His interpretation, posted on the Bizcommunity website, of 11 trends we may expect to see in SA restaurants calls for a vinous response. Of course, not all American trends will apply equally in SA - the Korean influence strongly felt in the US fell flat after North Korea was trounced 7-0 by Portugal in the World Cup. But there are some parallels.

The trend from celebrity chefs to celebrity farmers finds a vinous analogue in celebrity vineyards replacing celebrity winemakers. Truth be told, most of the fruit used to make the best rated wines in WINE magazine's Top Ten Sauvignon Blanc competition came from the same vineyard in Darling, owned by Theo Basson. Likewise, a particular vineyard on the Paardeberg supplies fruit for some of the finest chenin blancs in the land. This is the natural extension of the terroir principle - to list the vineyard name(s) on the label so wine lovers can cut through the advertising fluff.

The "tired of being poor" impulse may prompt consumers to upscale their food orders, which should see demand increase for French Champagne and dessert wines to go with all that foie gras.

The dawn of dining technology, with wine lists on iPads, will favour technically savvy producers such as Backsberg, who recently employed blogger Harry Reginald Haddon as marketing manager. Although Said does sound a note of warning: "With tabasco sauce and pepper grinders disappearing out the door in customers' handbags and pockets, why am I unsure we will be handing out iPads and PDAs (personal digital assistants) at the tables any time soon?"

The expected continuing popularity of comfort food will translate to continued support for well established brands. A vocal health-versus-indulgence debate will see healthy starters and decadent desserts continue, which is good news for low-alcohol, low-kilojoule dry whites and fortified wines and brandies.

The concept of the mobile restaurant in a bus or container is rumoured to be on the drawing board for Durban foodie Neil Roake. A mobile cellar was tried in Johannesburg a few years back but foundered on lack of interest and the usual bugbear of restaurateurs slack in paying their bills. The idea, pushed by a couple of quants from Investec, was that fine, aged wine would be stored in a central location (the quants' personal cellars) and delivered on demand to restaurants. Perhaps they were ahead of their time.

An expected renaissance in the cocktail market is good news for Méthode Cap Classique and brandy as they are competitive alternatives to Champagne and Cognac and, let's be honest, after a squeeze of syrup and a jolly umbrella, who can tell the difference?

An insistence on value for money translates to quaffable house wines, with several producers, such as Oak Valley, already stepping up to the plate with their second label offering, called Rawbones.

But all in all, any upsurge in restaurant trade is music to the ears of wine producers. For restaurants are the best shop windows for wine brands, period.

Read Pendock Uncorked at http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/pendock