Ever considered taking a train trip through South Africa? If not, you should! Apart from the fact that it’s one big adventure, it’s also cheap, safe, and clean, with super friendly staff that caters to your every need.

The Winetimes team can vouch for this after travelling 26 hours on the Shosholoza Train to Johannesburg. Our aim? To experience the Soweto Wine Festival for the first time.

Our journey up North started after 12 on a Thursday afternoon. We popped a bottle of Villiera Brut shortly after the train left Cape Town station to celebrate this historic occasion and it was not long before we opened another just as the train pulled into Wellington.

The weather was just perfect and we all admired the beauty of the Slanghoek Valley as we past its snow capped mountains.

After a few card games, copious amounts of cheese, and the same amount of wine, we decided to call it a night and disappeared into our respective compartments, only to be woken up bright an early by our friendly conductor with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. By now we just passed Kimberley and the landscape left much less to offer the eye. We made our way to the dining room for a tasty breakfast, after which we were ready for round number two.

After passing several godforsaken dorpies, more wine, and several rounds of cards, the train finally arrived at Johannesburg Station just before 4 on the Friday afternoon. Our rental car, which resembled something out of a Noddy movie, took us on an adrenaline filled ride through Hillbrow, before arriving at our place of residence in Norwood.

An hour later we were dressed for success and on our way to the Soweto Wine Festival. Upon arrival we received our access tags and made our way to the first stand to serve bubbly. Wine hottie, J.P Quickelberge, was quick to fill our glasses with the soon-to-be-released Clos Malverne Brut sparking wine and things were of to an excellent start.

Some more drops-from-heaven awaited us at the Krone stand, where Luke Krone kept the crowds entertained with his sparkling personality and striking good looks.

Other familiar faces were the folks from Haute Cabriere, the assistant winemaker of La Motte, Michael Langenhoven, as well as Anneke Buys from Vrede en Lust.

We had an excellent time at the Soweto Wine Festival but, to be honest, the one thing that was lacking was the top wines from some of South Africa’s leading wine estates. Judging by the high-end designer items spotted on the evening, attendees to the Soweto Wine festival have a lot of cash to splash. So the question remains, why did so many of the top wine producers failed to showcase the cream of their crop?

Aside from that, we had a ball. It was a well organised event and when you browse through the photos we took on the evening, it’s as clear as day-light that fun was had by all.

Also visit the Spit or Swallow facebook page for some more snap-shots