The sound of pages turning and the engaging banter of authors, were interrupted at this year’s Cape Town Book Fair by an unfamiliar, yet welcoming sound of clinking glasses. Feedback from some of the 49 000 visitors over the four-day event was that Leopard’s Leap Wines, the newest edition to the exhibition, was a best-seller.

The deep red walls, plush mahogany leather couches, and striking floral display incorporating Dr Anton Rupert’s biography and selected bottles of Leopard’s Leap finest, proved irresistible to fair-goers. Authors, poets, publishers, and visitors rubbed shoulders at the open-sided stand to browse the incredible collection of books on wine, and raise a toast to two of life’s greatest indulgences, books and wine!

Winemaker, Eugene van Zyl, who hosted the daily wine tastings, was thrilled with the response to both the stand and the wine. “Books and wine go hand-in-hand, so what better way to give people the opportunity to enjoy our label, than at a book fair.”

While the first feature on our daily entertainment programme, a discussion between food journalist and authors, Barbara Joubert and Carmen Niehaus, was postponed as a result of the SA/Australia match blaring from a plasma screen at the opposite stand, this didn’t stop the guests and their entourage from sitting back, with a glass in hand. While on Sunday we were treated to a poetry fest when some of the most renowned Afrikaans poets read from their acclaimed works.

One of the central themes of this year’s event was book collections, and Leopard’s Leap was proud to host a selection of books on viticulture theory, wine-travel guides, tasting guides, beautiful coffee-table books and wine-focused magazines. The collection was donated by various publishers, and the CTBF now plans to donate it to a library.