eveNts

EVENtS & SOCiALS

eveNt ListiNGs oude meester ceLeBrAtes GoLd AWArds With GreAt stArs

Oude Meester Blue Door Society members enjoying a moment during the celebration of the Gold Awards at the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Oude Meester brandy won three Gold Awards for Oude Meester Souverin 18-Year-Old, Oude Meester Reserve 12-YearOld and Oude Meester Demant at this year’s International Wine and Spirit Competition.

“This is an amazing achievement for the Oude Meester range,” said brand manager Genius Mnywabe. “Oude Meester has won a triple at one of the most prestigious international competitions, making South Africa proud.” exclusive event that hosted a variety of other South African award-winning achievers. From SAMA-winning musicians to award-winning athletes – a veritable who’s who of South Africans mingled with members of Oude Meesters prestigious Blue Door Society.

With such a diverse range of award winning South Africans in attendance, the Oude Meester Blue Door event was a unique celebration of achievement and quality. To highlight the story behind South Africa’s brandies, guest speaker Christelle Reade-Jahn, a director at the SA Brandy Foundation, shared a few words of insight into the crafting of award-winning brandy.

Oude Meester brand manager Genius Mnywabe, Christelle Reade-Jahn, director at the SA Brandy Foundation and Oude Meester Regional Brand ambassador Zethembe Khuboni

soWeto FestivAL expo A roAriNG success

Kgaogelo Masweneng and Karabo Ntobeng at Nasrec Soweto Festival Expo

the much-loved annual Soweto Festival Expo took place at Nasrec in September, and saw an array of artists giving stunning performances, a fun fair, braai area and beer garden. According to event organiser, Thandi Ramathesele, “the event is steeped in a rich history, since the days of the Homemakers’ Festival”. As the new majority partners in the Soweto Festival Expo, we are excited that the ownership of this product has been given back to the people. With the support of our partners will we’re able to put on a wonderful event and reignite the passion the Soweto Festival Expo has instilled since 2005.” The festival was held in partnership with the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, Sports SETA to enable 130 SMMEs operating within the SETAs to participate in the expo. The purpose of this partnership was to help SMMEs benefit from 10 days of training sales, marketing, customer service, money management and other business areas vital to ensure that they successfully run and grow their businesses.

eveNt ListiNGs soWeto Loves its WiNe!

Edgar, Matume Mbatha and Mzi at Soweto Wine Festival

this year’s Soweto Wine Festival was well-attended with nearly 9000 people from across the country, coming through to enjoy the festivity of music and food. Jo’burg Tourism, Durban Tourism, Nederburg, Fatti’s & Monis, J.C. Le Roux and Massmart were among the big brands that were launching products and campaigns at the wine festival, which also included food and an art exhibition.

Itayi Pswarayi and Sommelier Thato Goimane at Soweto Wine Festival

Master Chef SA judge Pete Goffe-Wood, who co-hosted the Nederburg Taste Theatre with Nederburg winemaker Danie Morkel on the final evening, said that he was inspired by the response to his filled-to-capacity classes and described the festival as“bloody brilliant!”

Marilyn Cooper, co-founder of the festival, said the objective of the event was to create a platform to develop an emerging market of educated and confident wine consumers. Dave Nobel, Gauteng Area Manager of headline sponsor, Tops at Spar, said the festival was a great success and it was good to see a variety of wines on offer. He said in future, Tops at Spar will work with the organisers and the industry to encourage more wineries to exhibit at Soweto Wine Festival.

“Noting that the audience spans entrylevel, first-time wine enthusiasts, and those that have attended for the past nine years and have now developed a more discerning pallet, there is scope for major growth in both the winery sales and consumer touch-points,” he added. Head of Joburg Tourism, Phelisa Mangcu, said the Soweto Wine Festival is an integral part of Joburg Tourism’s destination marketing strategy, showcasing Joburg from a lifestyle and leisure perspective and positioning it as the continent’s most exciting metropolitan centre. “The fact that our peers in the tourism industry used this illustrious occasion as a launch platform for their summer campaigns is indeed a testament to this event’s significance and stature,” said Mangcu.