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Some of the country's finest wines will be on show at the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival, with tastings and lessons on the cards.  More than 100 wineries will be taking part in the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival MORE than 100 wineries will be taking part in the Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival, together bringing more than 850 wines to the show. Now in its fourth year, the festival is being held at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto Campus on the evenings of 5 and 6 September. According to the organisers, the festival allows wineries to interact with and showcase their products to thousands of potential Soweto wine consumers. Visitors will be able to taste a wide variety of wines, from red to white, sweet to dry and sparkling. The Cape Wine Academy and Pick n Pay Hyper will also launch the Pick n Pay Wine Class; the class is a free, one-hour session where people can learn about wine, with presentations by Cape Wine Masters. "Pick n Pay is fortunate to be part of the Soweto Wine Festival for the next two years", said the general manager of foods marketing at Pick n Pay Hyper, Kader Patel. "Our new, first-class Pick n Pay Hyper in Soweto carries an impressive range of wine that's guaranteed to tantalize the palates of all our shoppers, from wine-buffs to the less fussy." "Much work is going into giving all our shoppers the best wine available, and [we] are pleased to be able to showcase some of the wines we carry, at the festival's wine class." The Did You Know Campaign is also being launched at the festival by the Cape Wine Academy and Lynx Wines. It involves printing facts about wine on Lynx Wine bottle labels. "So far there are one hundred of these facts, most of which will amaze even the most knowledgeable of wine connoisseurs," said Dieter Sellmeyer, the owner of and winemaker at Lynx Wines. "We find that the more people learn about wine, the more interested they become, and the more discerning they become." Labels on show include Ses'fikile, Mont Du Toit and Thokozani Wines. There will also be tastings of the products made by the only black female winemaker in South Africa, Ntsiki Biyela from the Stellakaya winery. Wine tastings will be free, and entertainment will add to the cheerful mood. The R&B, jazz and pop singer, Lira, will perform in the Standard Bank VIP lounge on Friday, 5 September. Her disc, Feel Good, won Best Jazz Album at the Metro FM Music Awards in 2007. She also has a Sama and a Channel O award. The Standard Bank Soweto Wine Festival takes place at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto Campus on 5 and 6 September from 6.30pm to 10pm. Tickets for the festival are R50 each at the entrance on both nights and at selected Pick n Pay Hypermarkets. Related stories: |