Neil Pendock speaks to Ezanne Gouws, marketing manager for Ernst & Co, about the US market

What makes the American market attractive for SA wine producers?

America has to be the most exciting place for anyone exporting wine. Not only is it set to become the world's largest wine market within the next year or two, but its size and nature require a real out-of-the box approach when it comes to creating an awareness of your product and selling it. The European market is pretty formulaic, over-exposed to all the world's wines to the point of boredom and also price-driven, due to the choking effects of the supermarkets.

I find the American wine market refreshing for its pioneering nature. Consumers there want to try everything new and their thirst for knowledge is as deep as their thirst for wine. They love wine and wine countries with a story, and they love engaging with representatives from other countries.

I think the greater South African wine industry is unaware of the tremendous potential over there. Awareness of South Africa as a country is strikingly low, yet once you have made the effort to tell the story of South African wine and our regions, the Americans are fascinated. They are always on the look-out for the USP (unique selling point) factor, which is really easy to give: Italian, French and Chilean USPs have been done to death and every American knows what they are.

But start talking about Huguenots, biodiversity, BEE and pinotage, for example, and you immediately strike a captured audience who give you a "we didn't know that about SA" look.

Is this why Ernst & Co is so successful with pinotage in the American market?

I get the "what makes your wine industry unique?" question a lot, and pinotage is right up there with boerewors, Nelson Mandela and World Cup Rugby champions. That's why Argentinian malbec does so well in America, because it is an Argentinian calling card. My American customers know South Africa produces a wide variety of quality wines, but so do many other countries. But what makes us unique is pinotage.

I actually start off by offering my customers a chance to taste a good red wine without telling them what it is. After I have identified it for them and told them the pinotage stories, it's an easy sell. It's not brain surgery, but it works every time.