TOPS Soweto Wine Festival Bubbling With Excitement

Online, August 16, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Mzansi's most stylin' wine festival, the TOPS Soweto Wine Festival, is bubbling over with great anticipation and excitement for what is being hailed as the biggest and most vibrant wine festival to date with an over 9000 visitors expected over the 3 evenings.

Says Marilyn Cooper, Cape Wine Master, joint founding member of the TOPS Soweto Wine Festival and MD of the Cape Wine Academy who are the organisers of the festival says, "Believe it or not, we are full! There is no more space to fit another sponsor or wine exhibitor, and we have extended the space this year.

"The wineries that have booked this year are bringing a fantastic variety of wines to cater to all palates from the new tasters to premium wine drinkers. We have worked hard on the additional marquee and the outside areas to provide a full spectrum experience of wine, different foods and entertainment with luxury wine lounges and a gorgeous VIP lounge for sponsor's top management, celebrities, government officials and accredited media to network in a VIP-only area with free flowing wine, food and entertainment. It is going to be incredible!"

Research over the past 6 years show a shift in approximately 50% of visitor's wine preferences from rose and semi-sweet wine to premium dry whites and reds. Premium wines such as Meerlust, Rupert and Rothchild, Ernie Els, Alto, Boekenhoutskloof, Hartenburg, Raka and Zandvliet all show growth in their premium wines within this market and will be at the festival.

A favourite at the festival is the 4th Street wine lounge. Comments Ebith Jurgens, brand manager at 4th Street; "4th Street loves the TOPS Soweto Wine Festival as it is as vibrant and fun-loving as our easy drinking natural sweet wine.

"This year at the TOPS Soweto Wine festival we will have a bigger and better stand for you to party the night away on. On the 4th Street stand you will not only be able to taste our new delicious natural sweet white and natural sweet red variants, but also be snapped partying with your friends, and stand a chance to win an awesome array of fun, fashionable prizes!"

There are new food additions to the festival. In the first, Appletiser has teamed up with some of Soweto's finest restaurants to bring our visitors a sit-down restaurant-type environment where they can choose from a selection of foods from the Soweto Hotel's Jazz Maniacs Restaurant, Roots Restaurant & Gallery, or Sushi by entrepreneur Vusi Albert Kunene of Mobile Sushi. Dinner will be served in a sit-down environment with live jazz band and festival favourite 'Safika'.

The second edition is the Ribshack Red Shisa Nyama Bedouin Marquee, where visitors can sit down and enjoy a Shisa Nyama with a glass of DGB's Ribshack Red, which is a fine blend of Pinotage and Shiraz, with a touch of wood and made to be enjoyed with meat dishes.

Shisa Nyama, which literally means "braaing the meat" in isiZulu, is a buy-and-braai concept that started in South Africa's townships. The Shisa Nyama will be cooked by Soweto-based chef, David Molope, a member of the South African Chef's Association (SACA).

Over the years, the Soweto Wine Festival has been a catapult to many thriving businesses within the industry. Mnikelo Mangciphu, co-founding member of the Soweto Wine Festival and owner of Morara Wine Emporium in Soweto launched his first wine store, Morara Wine Emporium, in Soweto after the first Soweto Wine Festival in 2005. Now a thriving enterprise, Mangciphu has franchised the Morara Wine Emporium in downtown Johannesburg and throughout Soweto, in which over 3 million people reside.

Heritage Links Brands based in the USA also launched after attending the inaugural Soweto Wine Festival. The founders were inspired to create Heritage Link Brands after learning at the Festival that people of colour were grossly underrepresented within the country's and global wine industry. Harvard MBA's Selena and Khary Cuffe wanted to give black wine producers a better chance to thrive.

The TOPS Soweto Wine Festival has also been the launch-pin to several other successful township festival's such the Gugulethu Wine Festival and others.

Says Mnikelo Mangciphu, co-founding member of the TOPS Soweto Wine Festival and owner of Morara Wine Emporium in Soweto says, "We are also aware of a wine distribution company that has opened a warehouse in Soweto directly due to the growth in wine sales in Soweto, which can be directly related to the Soweto Wine Festival. And there are many people that have approached Marilyn and me and said thank you, your festival inspired me to launch my magazine, my wine club, my business, my restaurant.

"It stands to reason though; if you can make it in Soweto, you can make it anywhere in the world. We are a nation of trend-setters and entrepreneurs!"

7th TOPS Soweto Wine Festival Fast Facts
Dates: 1-3 September 2011
Venue: University of Johannesburg, Soweto Campus, Chris Hani Road.
Time(s): Thursday & Friday: 6 pm to 10 pm, Saturday: 5 pm to 9 pm.
Tickets: R100 per person per night, or R280 for a 3-night pass: webtickets & at the door