The Stoep Tasting Wine weekend initiative started five years ago when Rose Wright and her husband, Gordon, realised there was a desperate need to attract tourism to their town during the traditionally quiet month of May.
Through their connections in the wine industry came the idea of inviting some wine estates to their well-known restaurant and guest house to display their wines and inviting people for wine-tasting on the stoeps of the picturesque town of Graaff-Reinet.
The first year, 45 people attended and since then it has grown to an amazing 2 000 tickets being sold for the 2018 Stoep Tasting.
Every year more and more wine estates, guest houses and businesses in town bought into the idea to entertain locals and out of town guests on their lovely stoeps for the weekend. People from all over the country came to Graaff-Reinet to join in the festivity.
This year wines from 32 different wine estates, plus craft beers, gins and brandy were displayed and with more than 350 tastings on offer, not a single person could dare to say that they did not get proper value for money.
At a leisurely pace, everyone wandered through the streets with their tasting glass, meeting old and new friends while building their wine knowledge and tasting skills to be “almost experts” by the end of the weekend.
All over town, the restaurants, guest houses and “stoeps” were alive… there were live music, sofas, lucerne bales, wine barrels, tables and chairs to gather around and small fires to braai marshmallows.
There were also local street food stalls and other products to buy on the sidewalks.
Everybody is already looking forward to the next Stoep Tasting and lots of people said that they would definitely invite more friends to join in the festivities in 2019!