Waterfront Wine Affair review

Nobody can deny that we are quite spoilt for choice in Cape Town when it comes to wine festivals. There a many that happen throughout the year, but the wine festival at the Waterfront is definitely the closest to me, living in Seapoint. I guess that makes it my local and I’ve always been a big fan. I attended them for many years, sometimes going on more than one evening because there was so much wine to taste and it was so much fun.

Last year they did not have the wine festival and the year before I couldn’t make it as I was away, so it’s great to have my ‘local’ festival back. This is also the first time I have attended at its new venue, above the parking on top of the Aston Martin showroom. It’s nice to have it in one venue again, in previous years there had been up to three venues and you had to go between them, often standing in queues to get in each time.

I went last night, which was the first night so I could check it out for you. It runs until friday evening (don’t ask me why they don’t run it on Saturday evening too). I would recommend going if you have a free evening. It was raining buckets when I went, but the marquee was nice and warm. It’s not your usual ‘flapping sides’ marquee, it has proper aluminium and glass walls and a proper floor so it’s more like a proper building. Next door they have created a relaxation lounge under a stretch tent. That was a bit cold, but they have installed heaters so if you grab a couch near a heater it’s not so bad. In the lounge you can buy some food and enjoy a live band and relax after some serious (or not so serious) wine tasting.

The other thing I like about the new venue is that it is nice and spacious, the old venue became very crowded, but this one can cope with a large amount of people more easily. I’ve saved the best for last, what I enjoyed most about the festival is that they have focused on lesser known producers so you can actually try some new wines for a change. I just looked at the brochure again and at least half of the estates I had never heard of.

There are also some Waterfront restaurants represented so you can line your stomach with some tasty snacks and if you feel like being educated, there is a Cape Wine Academy theatre where they do tutored wine tastings.

Tickets are R90 or R110 on Friday and I would say it’s worth braving the cold for. It opens at 5pm and closes at 9pm. More info on their website:

http://www.waterfront.co.za/aboutus/media/Pages/THEWATERFRONTWINEAFFAIRBACKBYPOPULARDEMAND.aspx