Our story
wine.co.za launched in 1996, in a time when the internet was in its infancy, and we are proud to show incredible growth since then as we now serve over 20 million pages of South African wine content every year.
Approximately 3 million of those are wine fact sheets, making it easy for sommeliers and wine writers to find information for their wine lists and articles in one place.
Where it began
We have been marketing South African wine since 1996
wine.co.za started its life in Hout Bay, where Kevin Kidson and Judy Brower were living at the time and then moved to Somerset West in 2001.
Initial marketing was done by fax, as very few wineries had email until the Y2K panic hit in 2000. Many hours were spent driving the roads of the South African the winelands and Kevin was frequently seen scrabbling around under desks getting wineries connected to the internet in these early days.
Looking Back
history flashback
Introduced the world of wine to the internet, getting wineries on board, kicking and screaming, diving under desks to get modems to work!
After much waiting for a license and paying rent for a warehouse, we launched our online wine shop, which has since morphed into the tastewine.co.za online store in 2022.
We are proud to have a long-standing relationship with the Pinotage Youth Development Academy (PYDA), offering work placements as well as a 12-month internship annually for a graduate. We have had 6 graduates spend their internships with us, learning the wine industry ropes and then stepping out into the world, alongside so many other talented PYDA graduates.
In response to a video highlighting poor living and working conditions on farms, we decided to focus on publishing all the good news stories from the winelands. We have and continue to publish hundreds of positive stories of upliftment, transformation, sustainability and education across the wine industry. Every April, Freedom Month, we publish a good news story every day.
We celebrated our Coming of age at the Spier Shed – hosting a massive braais day on 24th September / Heritage Day, with, trapeze artists, Pinotage & Chenin Assoc, #tastesunshine celebrations, sang Suiderkruismis and had a ball.
View Photo Album
A significant milestone for any company – and of course a major tribute to our team, some of whom have been with us for 17 years and more.
In order to assist wineries in offering world-class service, wine.co.za launched its DTC Academy, which offers hospitality training to help upskill staff in the tasting rooms. This improves the visitor experience, helping wineries to build long-term loyalty and sustainable direct-to-consumer experiences.
We are continuing to provide professional services to the wine industry while also aligning with the official 2024 Wine Tourism Strategy goals.
- Relaunched tastewine.co.za – focusing on curated packs.
- Introduced our new Token system to make publication of content easier for all.
- Launching Guest WiFi system – helping wineries to engage with their visitors & grow subscribers.
- Introduced our new WordPress Web development – with pioneering systems to feed info dynamically from wine.co.za.
- Offering on-site training for Tasting Room staff – with our DTC Academy.
- Launching CellarDirect Sales Accelerator – helping producers to sell more wine Direct to Customer.
See all our Services
And in other business
wine.co.za has always responded to the needs of the industry over the years. First by starting the Bulk Wine Trading platform, WineTrader, and then wine tourism magazine WineScape.
WineTrader
In a response to simplify the brokering of Bulk Wine sales, an effective Bulk Wine trading environment WineTrader was established in 2000. Successfully brokering and facilitating the movement and sale of millions of liters of wine.
WineTrader was sold to The Colors Group in 2008.
Winescape Magazine
We co-founded the Wine Tourism and Wine Routes Forums, launching WineScape magazine at Cape Wine 2004 to promote our winelands. Its premier issue won Gold at the SAPPI Africa Print Awards. With global distribution through Virgin Wines UK, Lufthansa, South African Embassies, Kaufhof stores in Germany, ROVOS Rail, and top SA retailers and guest houses, WineScape reached a wide audience.
Winescape was sold to Future Publishing in 2008.
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