Pinotage's 5 Million Rand Sponsorship

Absa bank yesterday (21/07/07) signed a five-year sponsorship deal worth one million rand per year with the Pinotage Association.

Dr Steve Booysen, Absa’s Group Chief Executive, said “I am extremely proud of what Absa has achieved in helping the Pinotage Association to development the Pinotage brand. With this agreement, we’ve committed to apply the bank’s considerable resources to firmly establish Pinotage in the local and international market. It is particularly important to us that all South Africans are made aware of the fact that this is our very own unique cultivar.”

This deal renews Absa’s decade long relationship with the Pinotage Association, which includes sponsorship of the annual Pinotage Top 10 competition. Pinotage Association Chairman Beyers Truter said “If it had not been for Absa, we would still have been in the experimental phases with Pinotage.”

Absa Bank and the Pinotage Association intend an ambitious promotional and media drive to capitalise on the success of the past and to take the brand to the next level. Several programmes will be rolled out, working toward positioning Pinotage for 2010. These will include a project with Absa Art later this year and a Food and Wine programme in 2008.


Picture: Dr Steve Booysen (left) and Beyers Truter celebrating with a glass of sparkling pink Pinotage.