Last night a group of young Kenyans, in fact the group were all women with one man, jumped into the deep end of wine tasting. This was at the Corner Café on Rhapta Road. So what were their reactions? Well, there was already a good knowledge about different grape varieties and how they tasted. Yes! So young Kenyans are buying wine, ordering wines at restaurants and enjoying what this can offer. Most of them liked the exuberance and up front flavours of the Sauvignon Blanc, but they were less enthusiastic about the more restrained and tropical flavours of the Chenin Blanc. They liked the oaky/vanilla flavours of the Chardonnay. And then turning to the Reds? They were unenthusiastic about the austere and mouthful of tannin from the Merlot, but liked the smoky fruit flavours of the Shiraz. All - man and women – were enthusiastic about the only indigenous varietal to Africa - the Pinotage. So, are young Kenyan’s drinking wines in restaurants only – or are they also buying wines to drink at home? The wines being tasted were from South Africa but in Kenya it is possible to buy wines from Chile, Spain, France and just about every major wine producing country in the world. So, what is the future for young Kenyans to taste and enjoy wines?
Nairobi is one of the fastest changing cities in the world. It is all go and there is a real buzz and everyone seems to be racing as fast as they can to the future. It is a cliché, but none the less true that the future is based on the young and Kenya is very much a young country. Well educated young people pour out of the nation’s higher education institutions every year and all seem to be wound-up and ready to go straining to make their marks. Partly because these graduates know that opportunities in the formal sector of the economy will be difficult to find, you meet an awful lot of young people that describe themselves as entrepreneurs. Their models are dot.com billionaires and they are developing all sorts of solutions to problems that they hope also will make them rich. It is not to fanciful to suggest that the future Mark Zuckenburg’s of this world could well be from Kenya.
This newly emerging young middle class aspire very much to the same things the young all over the world seem to aspire to including to what they drink. Beer is still king in Kenya and at least for young men spirits are gaining considerable in popularity. It is no surprise for example that in the last year alone several malt whisky brands, South African Brandies and French Cognacs, as well as well known American Bourbon brands have all entered the Kenyan market. Wine in terms of consumption is increasing rapidly albeit from a very low base. As young Kenyans frequent the rapid rising number of good quality restaurants in Nairobi they are choosing wine to accompany their eclectic food choices. Unfortunately and in most cases there is little information or support available to guide Kenyan dinners in their choice of wine. Any training provided to restaurant staff for example is at best ad hoc and usually provided by the wine selling companies, which are not exactly objective when it comes to selling their brands.
On anecdotal evidence, there is a huge demand for information about wine in Kenya. Just like the rest of the world, Kenyans can be intimidated by the plethora of wines available in supermarkets and hard to read wine lists in restaurants. Fortunately Kenyans are not what you would call a shy bunch they know what they like and are not afraid to demand what they want. Kenya is leading the world in cell phone usage in particular money transfer – so what can we do about wine knowledge transfer – hey – I’m drinking a wild/cool Wolftrap tonight – and you?
