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PREVIOUS WINELAND ARTICLES   |   WINELAND HOME Enoch Zaleni and Francois Cillie from Fairview. Switched on in Soweto Heita! Woohoo! It’s official - the Soweto Wine Festival is fast becoming one of the country’s hottest wine happenings. Sara de Villiers mingled merrily, tasted valiantly and chatted loudly - only to discover that this is one event you don’t want to miss. Trying to capture the vibe at the third annual Soweto Wine Festival, held on 7 and 8 September 2007 at the Soweto Campus of the University of Johannesburg in Soweto, is tantamount to committing hyperbole. Just about everything up North is slightly overwhelming for a naïve ‘Capie’ who, admittedly, has led a slightly sheltered life behind the ‘wingerd gordyn’. Welcome to Jozi and its sprawling, sassy sister Soweto - an altogether amazing alternate universe and melting pot of fascinating, frustrating, frightening and downright fantastic sensory overloads. Staging a wine event in the heart of this environment takes some doing, but those involved all agree the Festival appears to be going from strength to strength. Enoch Zaleni, Fairview. The atmosphere at this year’s bootylicious bash can only be described as electric. It was all about ‘meet, greet and get with the beat’! This year’s Festival attracted 4225 new and seasoned wine drinkers and the message was clear: "we’re here to taste, try and explore ... and have a great time doing it". Wine elitism went out the window, along with pre-conceptions and quite a few urban myths. The Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival is a considerably more interactive and spontaneous affair than many of the other rather staid wine events we winos are accustomed to. Upon reflection the stats are encouraging. Over 70% of festival goers were between the ages of 18 to 35. Overall attendance increased by over 50% since the ’06 Festival and over 300% since the inaugural festival held in 2005. This year’s festival attracted a good mix of those who knew their Pinotage from their plonk, as well as the all important ‘newbies’. There was also an undeniable sense of community and camaraderie amongst the crowd. Festival goers were unanimous: "Soweto is happening". A good number proudly declared: "I’m a Sowetan, born and bred!" Refreshingly candid about their innate passion and chutzpah, these (mostly young) consumers are confident, savvy, hip and eager to experiment. Interestingly many chose Pinotage as their favourite variety, referring to it as "our wine". Not only proudly Sowetan, but proudly SA then! People weren’t scared to speak their mind and many voiced a strong desire to learn more about wine, join wine clubs, host food and wine pairings and even visit the winelands. Producers and agents were on hand to field the many questions and it was refreshing how many attendees were eager for information and keen to experience all that was on offer at the festival. As the most populous black urban residential area in South Africa, Soweto boasts a population of around 1,5 million. According to City of Joburg stats Soweto houses 40% of Gauteng’s population with over 80% speaking English. Construction within the Soweto area has grown significantly in recent years. Projects such as the Maponya Mall worth R450 million and the R1 billion Orlando Ekhaya Mall will help meet consumer demands in the area. Soweto is the richest township in the country, rumoured to be home to over 23 millionaires. It attracts approximately 250 000 local and international tourists a year and contributes R143 million towards Gauteng’s gross domestic product. According to a 2003 study by the City of Johannesburg’s Economic Development Unit Sowetans have an annual buying power of R10 billion, of which R4.3 billion was available for consumer spending. There’s been an awful lot of talk about the as yet untapped potential of the so called "black diamonds" (consumers with spending power from South Africa’s townships). Many regard the Soweto Wine Festival as a major step in the right direction when it comes to finding alternative solutions to solve SA’s wine consumption crisis. Marilyn Cooper (co-founder of the Soweto Wine Festival and Cape Wine Academy MD) and Bertie Smith, Director of Agriculture at Standard bank. This year’s headline sponsor, Standard Bank, is putting its full weight behind the festival in "acknowledgement of the significant contribution the wine industry makes to the national economy". An upbeat Bertie Smith, Director of Agricultural Banking at Standard Bank, was impressed by the "genuine interest and eagerness" on the part of the festival goers. "The Festival might just burst out of its seams," he predicts. According to Marilyn Cooper, MD of the Cape Wine Academy and co-founder/organizer of the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival, alternative venues may be investigated to accommodate the growth in attendance. She is also excited at the prospect of extending the concept into other areas of the country, as well as further afield in Africa. Says Marilyn: "Logistically, this year’s festival was seamless. We had small, strong teams managing every aspect of the festival personally and it made all the difference. To micro-manage every aspect of a festival of this size and nature is necessary. Everyone involved, from wine estates, to press, to consumers, to VIPs, to sponsors is equally important in order to grow each of these segments simultaneously. Doing this will allow us to realize our primary objective, which is to grow South Africa’s local wine consumer market by introducing our world class wines to South Africans who could potentially constitute between 80% to 90% of our future wine consumers." Johann Krige, owner of Kanonkop cellar in Stellenbosch, is in agreement: "Total Wine consumption in South Africa is static. A wine fair such as this one is thus playing a leading role in bringing wine to an untapped market that could become enormous. I would rate this as one of the leading wine fairs in South Africa. Strategically it is probably the most important wine show currently. I found the attendees to be very inquisitive with a hunger for more knowledge about wine. In contrast to other, better known wine fairs everyone was well behaved and of a sober mind when the show closed. I am convinced all 80 producers that showcased their wines left Soweto with a positive approach towards this very difficult and problematic market and they are all, hopefully, already adapting strategies to tap into it - after all, this market is all about lifestyle and so is wine!" Festival goers Phindile Zwane and Mbali Mkwanazi. At the festival many of the pourers mentioned festival goers wanted to know prices of the wines and where they could purchase them. "What I’m seeing is incredible. We’ve had a very good response. People are inquisitive, sophisticated and eager to learn about wine culture. It’s not as stiff as other tastings and the festival was extremely well organized this year. For us this type of exposure is invaluable," commented Enoch Zaleni who was pouring for Fairview. "Mostly they’re very happy we’re bringing the wines to them, in their environment," he added. Mnikelo Mangciphu, owner of Soweto’s Morara Wines (the first wine shop in Soweto) and co-founder of the Festival, was responsible for managing the wine sales on behalf of the wine estates at the event. "Wine sales were very impressive and all the wines estates were very pleased at the volumes they moved. Most popular were the sweeter white wines, sparkling whites and Rosés, but this is normal in a young wine drinking market," comments Mnikelo. The Festival may be in its infancy, but one can only hope that with time it will reach its full potential - to become a truly unique wine event of international importance. Not only is its success imperative for the South African wine industry, it’s a really good indication that we’re finally waking up and giving people what they want. Heita Mzansi!

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