Photo by Joel Ross Studios
a message from tina jones
Welcome to South Africa!
A year ago, no one on the Banville & Jones team had yet visited South Africa. We knew we needed to change that. Travel is a great educational opportunity for wine experts and wine lovers. Visiting a wine region brings us close to the current trends and lets us look at the hows, wheres and whys of the wine industry.
Over the past few months, five Banville & Jones staffers made South Africa a priority. Each of us had high expectations, and South Africa exceeded those expectations at every turn! The country’ s tourism is all about experience; the culture is young, energetic, and alive and we were welcomed into it enthusiastically. I should add that we felt safe wherever we went— even up close with the lions!
Our wine experiences were amazing. Over the past few years, our friends Paul and Shirley Martens of Blend Imports have brought wonderful wines to our market. We visited many of their suppliers, and saw first-hand the fast-paced growth in South Africa’ s quality wines. We were delighted by the amazing wine culture and feasted on a terrific variety of wines!
Join us in a look at this amazing, energy-filled country. Mike Muirhead takes us through South Africa’ s wine regions; Sylvia Jansen takes a close look at South African sparkling wines; and collectively, Gary Hewitt, Mike Muirhead, Sylvia Jansen, Darren Raeside and I share our travels with you.
We hope you enjoy this issue, and we look forward to seeing you in the South Africa aisle of our store!
Tina Jones
10 http:// banvilleandjones. cornervine. com