Conferences and expos

Raise a glass at the Soweto Wine Fest

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1 September 2010

It is a commonly held belief that nothing beats a good meal topped by a glass of your favourite wine. This year's Soweto Wine Festival is taking this experience further, and will be hosting some of the famous township's favourite restaurants alongside 800 wine exhibitors.

La Kitchen Eatery, Roots, Asidle Gourmet, Masakeng Pub and Divine Caterers will be on hand to serve scrumptious Soweto "home-grown" cuisine to the thousands of visitors expected at the three-day festival.

The Soweto Wine Festival, which runs from 2 to 4 September at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto Campus, showcases diverse wines from some of South Africa's top and emerging wine producers, including award-winning labels and empowerment wine brands.

This year marks the 6th Soweto Wine Festival and sees the introduction of the Soweto Wine Shop, together with Norman Goodfellows, which promises to offer a one-stop-shop retail wine experience.

Marquee

Given the huge growth in the popularity of the festival, this year a marquee will be added to the side of the hall to cope with crowd capacity. In addition, a new Wine Business Education arena will give visitors an opportunity to explore careers and entrepreneurial opportunities in wine.

The marquee, dubbed the Platinum Arena, will feature travel lounges from San Parks and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, premier wineries, as well as education and business opportunities.

Each year, visitors are treated to a free glass of wine on entry and a festival tasting booklet to guide them through the hundreds of wines on offer. In between tasting, one can check out lifestyle exhibitions, sit in on a wine class or grab a bite to eat.

Musical entertainment will be provided by DJs from radio station Kaya FM.

'The One'

To add more spice to the show, visitors will be asked to find "The One". The One is a fun activity that involves finding your favourite wine variety such as cabernet sauvignon, chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, muscadel, pinot noir, merlot, shiraz or blends of these and then finding the winery that makes your style.

Since its inception the festival has seen a remarkable growth in empowerment brands exhibiting their wares. This year, there will be 11 empowerment wineries on exhibition: Lathitha Wines, Ses'fikile, Libby's Pride Wines, M'hudi Wines, Seven Sisters, Remogo Wines, Thandi Wines, Blouvlei, Fair Hills, Tukulu and Jacob's Quest.

"We are very proud that 11 BEE wineries will be exhibiting this year. It is a vital omponent to the festival that these empowerment brands grow with this market's wine enjoyment and consumption and that they are encouraged to continue the often difficult road to success," says Marilyn Cooper, joint founding member of the Soweto Wine Festival.

The Taste Theatre

Retail group Pick n Pay is sponsoring the Taste Theatre which will offer two one-hour wine and food pairing sessions every night. The Taste Theatre is a classroom-style lecture where food and wine personalities like Ntsiki Biyela, Jacob Peu, Erick Sikhosana and celebrity chef Citrum Khumalo will share their passion for wine and food.

Visitors will also be spoiled for choice at the Wine Lounge, which will be hosted by five well-known brands. Here, visitors can sit and enjoy their wine experience provided by 4th Street, The Saints Winery, Nederberg, Pearly Bay Wines and The House of JC Le Roux.

Commenting about this year's show Mnikelo Mangciphu, a co-founder and active member of the Soweto Wine Festival, says the 2010 festival offers a refreshingly different experience.

'The place to be'

"It is here. Can you feel it? With approximately 6 500 visitors expected over the three days, this is going to be the place to be in Soweto on the first weekend in September.

"With a record number of BEE wineries this year, 800 wines to taste from around South Africa, home-grown Soweto businesses offering entertainment and food, who could ask for more?"

The Soweto Wine Festival runs from 2 to 4 September at the Main Hall, University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus, Chris Hani Road, Soweto. Doors are open from 18:00 to 22:00 on Thursday and Friday and from 17:00 to 22:00 on Saturday.

Tickets are R60 per person per night or R150 for a three-night pass. Tickets can be bought at the door; at Pick n Pay Hypers in Boksburg, Norwood, Woodmead, Steeledale, Northgate, Princess Crossing, Soweto and Greenstone; at Morara Wine Emporium; and at the Cape Wine Academy.

Source: City of Johannesburg



	Good food, fine wine, entertainment, information on careers in the industry – the annual Soweto Wine Festival is a sparkling event (Photo: City of Johannesburg)