09/08-13   -   Press releases

Winter wine and food tours: South America and South Africa with BKWine

The wine and food tour specialist BKWine has launched the coming winter’s wine and gourmet tours. There are two tours to New World wine countries: Chile and Argentina in South America in February, and South Africa in March. Both tours extend over a bit more than ten days. They include several winery visits, gastronomic meal, and also other sights and experiences on these two long-range tours. The full programs are available on BKWineTours.com.

The first winter wine tour goes to the two main wine countries in South America: Chile and Argentina, 1-16 February 2014.

The tour starts on the Pampas. From the airport one goes directly to a comfortable estancia to recover from the long flight and to forget quickly the northern winter. This is followed by a few days visits to Buenos Aires, including tango, before it is time to head for the Mendoza wine region. In this Argentina’s biggest and most famous wine region the vineyard visits are mixed with Argentinean asados, the typical barbecue feasts, and with views of the magnificent landscape. From Mendoza the tour continues spectacularly on road across the Andes, reaching more than 10 000 feet, with Aconcagua, the highest peak, not far away.

Having arrived in Chile the winery visits and tastings, as well as the gastronomic meals, continue. There is also a unique opportunity to be winemaker for a day: a wine blending workshop in a winery to blend one’s own wine. Santiago, Santa Cruz and Valparaiso are also on the program.

Britt Karlsson, co-founder of BKWine, says: “This is a ‘full-bodied’ program where we have put together all of the best of what Chile and Argentina can offer in terms of wine, food and sights. I have been to South America several times and I have picked the gems. A very special program."

The second wine and food tour of the winter is to South Africa, 28 February – 10 March 2014.

South Africa has quickly advanced to become one of the top wine producers in the New World. On this wine tour there will be visits to the classic regions like Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. But the program also includes the “newcomer" Swartland. Some consider this to be the very best wine region in South Africa. The tour starts and ends in Cape Town and will also include the famous Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope. There is a possibility to add two days of very luxurious wildlife safari.

The tour also contributes to the development of the South African society. It sponsors a South African school as well as volunteer work at a Red Cross children’s hospital.

Per Karlsson, the other co-founder of BKWine, comments: “South Africa sometimes has a reputation for entry level wines. Forget that! On this tour we will meet personally with some of South Africa’s greatest and most famous winemakers. Since we at BKWine are also internationally recognised wine writers we have unique contacts in the wine world. There will also be some lazy afternoons and luxurious gourmet meals. Not to forget the landscape and the wildlife that will also be part of the tour."

All tours and detailed programmes can be found on http://www.bkwinetours.com

BKWine is a tour operator specialised in top quality wine tours and gourmet tours. BKWine tours have been named “world’s top wine tours" by Travel + Leisure Magazine. Each year BKWine organises around 30 wine tours, both custom designed and on schedule.

BKWine AB

BKWine, 51, rue du Chevalier de la Barre, F-92130 Issy les Moulineaux (Paris), France, phone 00 33 6 80 45 35 70, info [at] bkwine.com, http://www.bkwinetours.com, http://www.bkwine.com.

BKWine AB is run by Britt and Per Karlsson, of Swedish origin. There are four main activities:
- Wine & food tours
- Wine journalism
- Wine photography, wine stock image library: http://www.bkwinephotography.com
- Wine consulting

BKWine is active in several wine related fields. The main business is organising wine tours for wine enthusiasts and wine professionals who want to visit wine regions to learn more about wine. Each year BKWine organises some 30 wine tours. The wine tours have been named World’s Top Wine Tours by Travel + Leisure. BKWine has written and published several wine books that have won national and international awards. BKWine also publishes an online newsletter on wine, The BKWine Brief, which reaches some 20,000 subscribers. Britt and Per are members of the British Circle of Wine Writers (CWW), the International Wine Writers Federation (FIJEV), the French Wine Press Association (APV), the International Wine and Food Society (IWFS) and several other wine and gastronomic organisations.