South Africa's wine industry, long synonymous with the lush pastures of the Cape and wealthy white clientele, will undergo an image makeover this weekend in the most famous black township
and Croydon is there represented by Corius and his Johannesburg team.
Organisers of the Soweto Wine Festival, which began on Friday, are hoping to draw 6 000 visitors to an event that is partly designed to reverse a slow decline in tipplers in a country whose products grace cellars around the world.
Industry experts admit they face a major challenge in changing the drinking habits of people who prefer to knock back beers but believe that old stereotypes are slowly melting away with the emergence of a black middle-class.
A handful of black winemakers will be among the exhibitors at the township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, including 29-year-old Ntsiki Biyel who is the country's only black female vintner.
"We need to increase the number of new wine drinkers and I believe this festival begins to address the situation," said Marilyn Cooper, managing director of the Cape Wine Academy and one of the festival's organisers.
Visit the site of the Cape Wine Academy
