FOR a rare opportunity to explore, discover and enjoy South Africa's burgeoning, internationally famous brandy industry visit the Fine Brandy Festival at the Sandton Convention Centre tonight
The Cape's leading distillers and brandy makers from top wine estates will be on hand at the fourth Fine Brandy Festival to give brandy drinkers - novices, connoisseurs and everyday brandy lover's alike, a rare insight into the finest that South Africa has to offer.
What makes it an exceptional experience is that the Cape's best brandies are also rated the world's best.
This year's festival also celebrates the incredible run of accolades earned by local brandies at the International Wine and Spirit Competition over the past three decades. No fewer than 12 local brandies have won the Worldwide Best Brandy trophy at what is the global wine and spirits industry's leading quality assessment held in London each year, including the past four years in succession.
The festival's "Walk of Fame'"is a special showcase featuring all these top performers.
But, first and foremost, this year's festival is for the senses, which local brandy provides in abundance.
Start by exploring the "Brandy Aroma Wheel" that reveals the magnificent range of scents to be found when nosing various brandies. Florals and fruits come from the sun-ripened chenin blanc and colombard grapes, from which more than 90percent of Cape brandies are made: jasmine, violets, raisins, litchi, citrus, peach and apricot.
From the years of maturation in fragrant French oak barrels come vanilla, cedarwood, nuttiness, spice, honey, chocolate and coffee . and that's just the beginning.
You don't have to be a connoisseur to enjoy the brandy festival. Novices can whet their appetite for brandy by sipping, nosing and exploring their way through matured Cape pot still treasures, vintage and blended brandies of remarkable quality.
The pure pot still brandies, the richest style of brandy requiring, by strictly enforced South African production laws, double distillation in copper pot stills and a minimum of three years' maturation in small oak barrels.
The flexibility and spaciousness of the Sandton Convention Centre also opens up exciting possibilities in terms of imaginative stand design, trend-focused experiences, lifestyle activities and top-notch entertainment.
From world-acclaimed champion brandies, new product launches and chill-out lounges to can-can girls, DJ Black Coffee and brandy-enhancing food, the festival line-up promises to be a crowd pleaser.
To broaden everyday brandy drinkers' experience of South Africa's popular, very fine blended brandies (all of which contain a minimum of 30 per cent pot still brandy and made specifically to be enjoyed with mixers including cola, orange juice and ginger beer), the festival features the exciting new art of mixology: deft bartenders creating cocktails both classic and contemporary, all using Cape brandies as a base.
All in all, a festival that showcases Cape brandy's extraordinary quality, complexity and versatility.
The SA Brandy Foundation is a member of the Association of Responsible Alcohol Use.
The Fine Brandy Festival supports moderate and responsible enjoyment of brandy. Corporate Cab services are available.
For full details on festival events and bookings visit: www.brandyfestival.co.za or e-mail info@brandyfestival.co.za