Worldly Wine Tour
Springfieldian Matt Bekebrede traveled all the way to South Africa to taste the vino from an up-and-coming wine region.
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Wine Time: Matt and his father, Dan Bekebrede, standing next to a historic light house on Cape Point. |
As the owner of Vino 100, I always have a keen interest in learning more and more about
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Vino 100 |
| Vino 100 was designed to simplify the wine buying experience, simply based on flavor and body. Republic Plaza 2145 West Republic Road Springfield, MO 65807 417.883.8466 |
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wine and how it is made—how it was developed from the grapes growing in the vineyards to the juice that we enjoy from the bottle. Vino 100 participated in a national event sponsored by Wines of South Africa (WOSA) with more than 50 other Vino 100 stores across the country.
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Vino 100 |
| Vino 100 was designed to simplify the wine buying experience, simply based on flavor and body. Republic Plaza 2145 West Republic Road Springfield, MO 65807 417.883.8466 |
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| »Website |
Most people don’t know that South Africa possesses a rich history in wine, food and culture, and I was lucky enough to visit when I won an all-expenses-paid week-long trip through the promotion.
First stop: Wine Country
We began our trip in Stellenbosch, which is the Napa Valley of South Africa. Our first stop in Stellenbosch was at Ernie Els Wines. The owner might be best known for his abilities on the golf course, but I must say the winery was amazing, as well as the wines.
As we made our way through the winery, we noticed the pristine condition of the cellar, tasting rooms and even the private underground cellar of Ernie Els and co-owner Jean Engelbrecht. The focus at Ernie Els Wines is to create wines that represent everything that Ernie stands for: big in stature, gentle in character. Thus they produce three different red blends that do just that: Ernie Els, Engelbrecht-Els and the Big Easy. The Engelbrecht-Els is a fabulous Bordeaux-style blend with a touch of shiraz added to give way to hints of spice.
