Neil Pendock speaks to the Wine Bandits (um… that's us)

See the original post here on Neil’s blog, The Times.

Neil Pendock speaks to Allister Kreft about Wine Bandit videos.

Wine commentary seems to be increasingly moving from “dead tree media” to the Internet. Is online video the next step?

Absolutely, online video is accessible through everything from your home PC to your cellphone these days and it gives people the opportunity for entertainment and education about wine when they choose. Back in the day, we didn’t really have a choice what we watched — even the SABC test pattern didn’t change! Now, media has fragmented completely and everyone has a voice on the Internet through blogs, Facebook and Twitter. We do numerous wine experiences and wine tours for Under the Influence and wanted to expand that to a larger audience through online wine videos. This way, people can have a slice of the Cape winelands at home or work.

Who are your videos aimed at?

A nyone who wants to discover more about great South African wines. We talk to wine makers, demystify complicated wine subjects and have a good laugh the whole way through, making wine accessible and entertaining. Our wine videos are watched by lots of locals wanting to learn about wine, but increasingly by international visitors too, as SA becomes a better-known wine producer.

With the advertising of alcohol destined to be outlawed, do you foresee any legislation to control wine videos ?

With our focus on teaching, we aren’t too worried about this legislation, but if it is too broad and fails to take into account the benefit of wine education, it could be a problem. We shall see.

Does online video have a special place in third- world countries where literacy is an issue?

It certainly does. What is great about these videos is that they can show wine making and show a vineyard, which is beneficial to anyone who wants to learn. It is a much more powerful teaching medium than just reading a book. In fact, it can bring the theory to life. The Wine Bandits videos are accessible to all with Internet at www.undertheinfluence. co.za/blog. For those areas without Internet, our production team, Lobster Ink, is producing wine and service training videos to take into the remotest parts of Africa.