For most of the 18-25 year olds attending the wine courses, this is their first exposure to many of the wine brands. The Wine Service Course, the Preliminary wine course and Wines of the World course are all offered at various institutions therefore students experience many different entry level wines, prestigious labels and imported wines as part of their curriculum.
Marilyn Cooper, Cape Wine Master, CEO of the Cape Wine Academy and co-founder of the Soweto Wine Festival says: “Often consumers are inclined to drink familiar and safe wine labels and our courses change this as these consumers become exposed to a wide variety of wines.
"They are therefore predisposed to experiment with new cultivars and producers. In this way, the Academy broadens the buying spend of consumers and simultaneously increases the per capital wine consumption.”
In order to fulfil this latter ideal, the Academy has been instrumental in organising successful wine festivals in Soweto and Gugulethu. These festivals have also stimulated and increased the number of people of colour attending the Academy’s public courses, to 20%.
Adinda Booysen, newly-appointed Managing Director of the Cape Wine Academy says, “The continued support of the wine industry is essential to the success of these courses as they kindly donate their wines, which enables the Cape Wine Academy to nurture the love of wine amongst the students.”
Many of the students that enrol in the Cape Wine Academy courses go on to be successful sommeliers, restaurant managers, winemakers, tourism hospitality managers, tour operators, chefs, hotel and guesthouse employees and such like.
End
Editorial Notes:
TheSoweto Wine Festival was launched seven years ago by the Cape Wine Academy’s Marilyn Cooper to bring wine education to Sowetans in a relevant and vibrant context.
Issued on behalf of the Cape Wine Academy by:
Hot Salsa Media
Viv Quann
viv@hotsalsamedia.co.za
0844862136
Cape Wine Academy:
Marilyn Cooper, CEO and Cape Wine Master
Marilyn@capewineacademy.co.za
0827735250 |
