The city of Cape Town will be the host of the first-ever Wine Biodiversity Conference, which is scheduled for early April 2006 and will be followed by the fourth biennial Cape Wine event and Wine Trade Exhibition.

The Wine Biodiversity Conference, just like the trade exhibition, will be held on April 4 in the Cape Town Convention Centre and revolves around for instance South African and global wine industry, and both local as well as worldwide biodiversity will feature an extensive line-up of local and international speakers.

For instance, during unique conference that will be introduced by the South Africa Minister of Agriculture, Gavin Pieterse, who is the Chairman of the South African Wine Industry Trust. He will speak about Transformation and Empowerment in the Wine Business in South Africa.

After the conference, a two-day Cape Wine Trade Exhibition will be held at the Cape Town Convention Centre. Over 350 wineries in South Africa will present more than 4 000 wines altogether. This year Cape Wine is introducing a special pre-tasting opportunity; in a separate venue examples of all the Sauvignon Blancs, Chenin Blancs, Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons and red blends will be presented after the Wine Diversity Conference, on the eve of the trade show.

The Cape Wine Trade Exhibition features not only wine, but also Cape cuisine during the Cape Kontrei Cuisine starting on April 5 at 19:00 hrs, which is a true celebration of cape wine and traditional local cuisine.

The second day of the trade show, on April 6, will be concluded with a party in Aid of the Pebbles Project. This social project was established in 2004 to support South African children with special educational needs, particularly those whose lives are directly and indirectly affected by alcohol abuse.

In the Western Cape Province of South Africa a high number of children are born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, which later on can cause many different kinds of learning difficulties. The Pebbles Project aims to provide a good education for these children, who often drop out of school due to lack of special educational facilities that help them achieving in school.

Source: Cape Town Magazine .com / Miriam Mannak

For conferences, conventions and events coming up in Cape Town at the Cape Town International Convention Centre subscribe to our free newsletter.