Did you know...
That wine shows are reputed to be one of the best ways of meeting a potential partner?
Could that be the real reason for the ever-increasing popularity of these sponsored bacchanalian blow-outs? As the only other reason for going seems to be to drink as much "Sorvynon Blonk" or "Cab Sav" as possible in the allotted 2 hours, it does give some measure of justification for the otherwise totally unpleasant experience.
If drinking wine is supposed to be one of life's pleasures, where is the fun in standing 6-deep at a trestle table, manned by a pimply youth from the nearby catering college, wrestling your way to the front, to try and obtain approximately 20ml of an anonymous red or white liquid? Even when you get to the front of the table, you find that all the crackers are gone, and nobody is really listening when you loudly declare "Oh, nice bookay – can I try that red one while I'm here?"
And this is not a recent phenomenon. The first wine show that I attended was the Rand Daily Mail Wine Show (now there's a name from the past!) held at the Wits Show Grounds, where they used to have the Rand Easter Show. A couple of years later, it became the Business Day Wine Show, and was moved to a giant marquee at Kyalami Race Track. The unfortunate consequence of this was that, having been suitably "fuelled up", a process which took about 2–3 hours, compared with the normal 6.8 seconds, everyone immediately turned into a Michael Schumacher clone, though it may have been Ayrton Senna in those days, as soon as the key was inserted in the ignition.
The Midrand constabulary could have filled their whole year's quota of motoring fines over a 3 night period, but fortunately, either turned a blind eye, or had run out of breathalysers, or most likely, gave up in the face of overwhelming numbers!
I could never understand why ticket sales were not limited to the maximum comfort level of the venue. But of course, if you were relying on sales at the door, it wasn't a good move to turn people away, especially as Kyalami was still a Groot Trek in those days.
However, more recently, common sense and decorum have prevailed, and the Winex and Juliet Cullinan shows are now relatively pleasant experiences.
The extra benefit of this is that better wines are now being showcased, which is surely the major raison d'être for a wine show in the first place. The quality producers do not need to pay to have their wines gulped down en masse. You will not find the Kanonkops and Meerlusts of this world at anything but the very best shows, because their wines are not aimed at the mass market, and their limited marketing budgets have to be specifically directed towards generating the necessary returns.
It can cost up to R20 000 for a farm to attend the Johannesburg and Cape Town Winex shows. An awful lot of additional sales have to be generated to justify that sort of expense. And what other product, of any kind, is so freely available for you to try before you buy?
If, however, you are more interested in the "wine" than the "show", why not call in at your local Manuka Fine Wine Boutique where there is always a wine or two on promotion, and where you can enjoy the tasting experience without getting crushed in the rush. And you never know, you still might just meet your potential partner there!
Stephen Digby
Manuka @ Southeys
Somerset West
southeys@manuka.co.za