"Competitive wine-tasting just doesn't get any bigger than this," says Rick Louw, captain of the Ikeys. "Not only is Stellenbosch our traditional foe, but as a university set in one of the world's most famous wine regions, we know that they will be very hard to beat due to their team being immersed in a powerful wine culture."

"But we have trained hard over the winter break, and some promising young tasters from Cape Town are stepping up to the plate, ready to take on the daunting challenge of facing Stellenbosch."

Andrew Chigorimbo, who heads up the Matie Magnums, says the pressure is all on his team.

"When you think of the South African wine industry, you think of Stellenbosch. So we know we are going into this Vino Varsity with the expectations of the entire Stellenbosch wine region on our shoulders," says Chigorimbo. "We thus know we cannot afford to take our competitors anything less than seriously. Ikeys are definitely the underdogs, and everyone knows how dangerous an underdog is. They have been training hard at their tasting and have a few real stars in their team."

The Vino Varsity Challenge, organised by Backsberg's Simon Back and Emile Joubert from wine industry PR company MediaVision, will see the teams competing in three categories: blind tastings, general knowledge and a debate section.

"Wine is about knowledge and fun, both features of student life," says Back - himself a former Ikey who is also the trainer of the Ice Buckets. "The idea of the Vino Varsity Challenge is to provide a platform from which the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town can express the important role wine plays in the student communities. Both universities are set among world-famous winelands, and a shared love of wine is a feature this competition wishes to underscore. It is also important that the enthusiasm shown by these students for wine be recognised by the South African wine industry.

"Vino Varsity is about expressing the passion and knowledge students show for wine, a passion that the rest of the industry should embrace," says Back.

Emile Joubert, former Matie and trainer of the Magnums, says it all comes down to who is better on the day. "I have had a look at our competitors, and know where we can exploit their weaknesses," says Joubert. "But the Ikeys are a well-drilled side and in a competition like this, with so much at stake, anything can happen."