A ‘tipsy’ trot around South African wine
Yogi Birigwa, South African Airways country manager, and Matome Mbatha, marketing manager, Wines of South Africa, at the event. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
With most of the wine consumed in Uganda being from South Africa, it was only fitting that an event was held to showcase the variety that is available.
You will be spoilt for choice at a wine tasting event, that’s for sure. The shapely full bottles with fancy names, many not recognisable, on the tables or half lying in ice buckets as if beckoning you, but most of all the sophisticated taste notes would leave many a reveler confused albeit impressed.
The “Wines of South Africa” wine-tasting festival was held at Kampala Serena Hotel last Saturday was not different. Brad Coetzer, the regional channel manager for Under the Influence, advises that consuming wine should not be rocket science.
Intertwined with food
Forget about the fancy, what really matters, according to Coetzer, is to open up, explore and simple enjoy it.
“Don’t over analyse it, just drink it,” he says. And the wine enthusiasts did just that as they stopped by the dozen or so tables in Katonga Hall sampling the repertoire and indulging in the finger food, after all, the story of wine is intertwined with food.
Rose, white and red wine in semi-sweet, sweet, dry, sparkling, fruit varieties made a rich assortment.
Started in 2010 by South African Airways, this showcase is purposed to widen the variety of South African wines on the Ugandan market. According to SA Airways country manager, Yogi Birigwa, 80 per cent of the wine consumed in Uganda is from South Africa.
Previously a more flamboyant affair, this year’s event was low key and indoors, focusing more on an educational aspect, thus some workshops were carried out prior to the event for wine makers and promoters.
“South Africa has a history of 350 years of wine production. Our wine is produced in the southern tip of the Western Cape, the influence of the soil and breeze from the sea refines our grapes,” says Matome Mbatha, the marketing manager for Africa, at Wines of South Africa.
Draw from experience
He believes Uganda is ideal for this wine because of a growing economy and fledging cosmopolitan lifestyle, after all, wine itself is synonymous with seeking the finer things.
But, wine need not intimidate one, for the trick is in embracing it with the food, mood or occasion.
Perhaps, this is why one of the exhibitors advised us to simply disregard the makers’ notes and draw from our experiences to describe the taste, for instance “the feeling of walking in your back yard, a perfume, or even a boyfriend”, basically be real and that is what we did that evening.
Some tips on wine
·Sweet wines go well with spicy food and curries,
·Dry wines are great with more complex foods,
·For a warm day opt for white wine to cool you while on a cold day, red wine will do.
· Young wines are great for easy drinking
· The packaging of a wine often reflects its nature, serious or playful.
