South African wine producers will showcase over 336 wines from different regions in the Cape Winelands in Lagos this July to coincide with the Nelson Mandela Day celebrations around the globe.
The event, Wines of South Africa 2nd Grand Tasting will be held in Victoria Island, Lagos, on July 19; Nelson Mandela's birthday. Wines will be presented in a walk around tasting, targeting trade such as importers, distributors and portfolio managers working in the food and beverage/hospitality industry as well as consumers in the Nigerian market.
Guests will be treated to a taste of Cape Diamond Wines, Remhoogte Wine Estate, Tokara, Napier, Riebeek Cellars, Asara, Laricmal, The Township Winery, Robinson & Sinclair, Food & Wine Factory, MAN Vintners, Kanu Wines and Vinglo Wines. Others include Bizoe Wines, Sijnn Wines, De Trafford, DGB Wines, Grande Provence Wines, Overhex Wines International, Ses'fikile Wines, Waterford Estate Wines, Pernod Ricard Wines, Uni Wines, Diemersdal Wines, Oldenburg Wines, Lathitha Wines, Cape Dreams Wines and Raka Wines.
The wine routes of South Africa trace not only the history and development of the country's 350-year-old wine-making tradition, but South Africa's maturation into a full-bodied, flavourful democracy.
The Cape winelands, and beyond, offer a multitude of wine routes to explore along with brandy routes, wine biodiversity routes and the world's longest wine route. The wine routes of South Africa fall largely within the Western Cape Province where the bulk of the country's wine production takes place. Wine lovers can also explore as far afield as the Northern Cape, the south eastern Orange Free State and even the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, in their quest to discover South African wines.
Unofficially, South Africa's northernmost vineyards are in Bronkhorstspruit, east of Pretoria in Gauteng. The majority of wine routes in South Africa fall under the auspices of the Wine of Origin Scheme, an origin control system instituted in 1973 to safeguard the diversity and uniqueness of South African wine.
The system is similar to France's Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, but since South African wine regions are not well known outside the country, wine tourism routes have been created to make navigating South Africa's diverse winelands easy, fun, and rewarding.
Currently, there are 17 'official' wine routes registered with the South African Wine Routes Forum, SAWRF. A wine route constitutes a geographical wine-growing region and consists of members who belong to an organisation (wine route, trust and/or association) that aims to promote the region and represent producers and various industry bodies.
Each of South Africa's wine routes exhibits its own personality and though they are designed to showcase the region's best wines and wine-making traditions, there is nothing stopping wine buffs from creating their own Chardonnay trail or touring the winelands based on their love of art, history, or extreme sports.
