By REMI DIAGBARE

The Lagoon Restaurant was venue of the maiden edition of ‘Nigeria Wine & Sprit Festival’, organized by Spronks Creations Ltd. The festival’s theme was: ‘From Vineyard to Bottle: The Great Tradition’. It brought together wine makers, distillers, wholesalers, retailers and wine connoisseurs under one roof.

The three-day festival was held between 4th and 6th June. There were assortments of drinks for any one who cared to drown in them; from Champagne (red, white and rose) to Amarulars, bitters and other kinds of wines and spirits. The event truly showcased potentials of the drinks industry.

Aderonke Sobdu, the brain behind the project, explains why she set about organizing a wine festival. “A lot of people have asked me why, since we do not belong to the wine and spirit producing regions of the world. I believe that you do not need to be, to organize a wine expo if you have reasonable consumption and enjoyment of it. This has been demonstrated by the penchant of Nigerians (to go) for quality wines and spirits. This qualifies us to organize the festival; not only to celebrate a great brand, but also to encourage and advance those qualities that accentuate gastronomic delight.

“We also want to create an avenue for local distillers, importers and sellers alike to interact with hoteliers and liqueur shops. The fall out is (our contribution to) promotion of tourism Nigeria, as every festival is an avenue to promote tourism.”

Over fourteen wine importing companies participated in the festival.