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Our Story

It is our aim at Vino Tours, to give our guests a Journey into the Winelands – a VIP tour into the heart of wine.  We want to give you an in-depth personal tour, meeting different members of the wine making team from our chosen Wine Estates that we have the pleasure of knowing and working with

 

 

Verene pic for Vino Tours

Verene

My journey into the most interesting world of wine started 1999 when I joined one of the biggest co-operatives in the wine industry – KWV to launch Laborie wines in South Africa.

After 5 years of great success, I then joined the MD of KWV on his journey to Spier where I managed sales for Spier for the SA market for 7 years.  I decided to start my own business where I could educate wine advisors to impart the knowledge and passion of wines to consumers – and Vino Promotions began in 2012.

Over this period my passion for wine evolved through extensive understanding of various wine processes and how food complemented the various elements.  I have been fortunate to meet the most interesting and exciting characters within the industry.. taking it one step further, I would now like to share my stories and experiences at a very personal level with clients that would like to experience the finer things in life.

 

linda-louise

Linda-Louise

My 25-years in the wine industry began with a love of wine and visiting wine farms, when my  two boys were still strapped in their booster seats in the back of my car.

I completed my diploma 2 at the Cape Wine Academy in Stellenbosch, whilst at the same time starting my own cooking school “Linda’s Kitchen” where people came to my house and did cooking classes with me. These classes more often than not turned out into a huge social evening by the end of the lesson, and we began pairing good wine with the food that we had prepared.

I later moved to Bloemfontein where I opened a wine shop stocking more than 400 wines at the time, and 2 years later I returned to Stellenbosch to assist The Bergkelder with their cellar tours.  From here I went on to work at Hazendal Wine Estate and Spier Wine Farm until recently, when I started my own business called The Wine Library.

 

 

me

Joanna

I have always had a love of good wine. My happy introduction to wine was a French Minervois blend given to me by my Manager when I started my first job.   I made it clear to him that I was not keen on wine but he over-ruled me and explained that after I took my first sip, I would not want to drink anything else!
It was so soft and rich, and  I wanted to know more about the wine from the Sommelier. Fascinated at they way he described the wine –  I was hooked, and eventually came to understand the passionate way wine is often described.
I was fortunate enough to have the exposure of European wines for a few years, until I moved to Cape Town from the UK in 1997.  I made it my mission to visit as many wine farms as I could in my first year here, and encouraged friends and family to visit so that I had a nice excuse to visit more.   Although there are many ways that wines are similar, I found that the South African wines had so many different nuances depending on the “terroir” or soil conditions from one region to another.  There are always surprises in newly released wines. Its such a pleasure to meet and introduce new people to the fabulous wines we taste on our Tours.