Soweto wine festival has flair

FOR its swashbuckling energy and elegance, the TOPS Soweto Festival has doubtlessly distinguished itself with quite panache, from the snobbish versions held elsewhere in the northern suburbs.

Cynics might well attribute its peculiar zesty ambience to Murphy's Law: that says, as always, the more alcohol consumed, the higher the levels of noise from the tasters.

Well, far from it, the carnival atmosphere, which marks the event every year, comes from the genial nature of the locals, than from the inducement of the fermented grape.

Apart from that, the show has a cosmopolitan feel about it, exuding good-natured merrymaking all round. Unmistakable to visitors is the humble yearning for knowledge about the nectar that has graced the palates of the rich and famous for generations.

In the early years, the show exposed wine-makers for the first time, to cultural fault lines around wine appreciation. This, of course, took them by surprise. For example, some would be taken aback when tasters spit very little - if at all - of the stuff into spitoons.

In African culture, it is contemptible to spit out food or a drink offered by the host, an act which could be misconstrued as disregarding their goodwill in spending time preparing the offering especially for you.

Sniffing the wine also showed that something was offish, another unintended offence to the host. But, today, we laugh at it all since, thankfully, this is no longer much of a sensibility. It is now a case of the palatability of the wines, determining whether to use or forgo the spitoons.

But etiquette still dictates that one should use the spitoon at every turn. Happily, the event has, to quote wine expert Neil Pendock, knocked wine off its snobbish pedestal, something which intimidated many from enjoying the tipple.

From the 500-odd who attended the inaugural show to the 8500 who visited last year, the show is fast becoming an indicator of the changing demographics in drinking patterns out there.

And the wine show's increasing popularity is riding on this changing trend.

But with every success comes a headache and, in this case, it is how to accommodate the growing crowds. One alternative venue considered by the organisers this year was Orlando Stadium, which became a problem because of insufficient parking space.

That is why the show will remain at its usual venue, at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus, where it will be held for three days from September 6 to 8.

Visitors will taste more than 900 wines from the country's top producers.

Co-founder of the festival, Mnikelo Mangciphu, says: "It's bigger, it's better, it's black and it's beautiful. This year our focus is on providing a gorgeous, safe place for our visitors to have fun, learn about wine, dine with friends in our TOPS food marquee."

Nederburg will host a food and wine theatre manned by members of its award-winning wine-making team.