ABOUT
Thembi Tobie's passion for wine, different cultures, different foods and travel made her venture into wine. She had to develop a palate, acquire the taste, learn everything there is to know about wine. She taught herself by visiting wineries during her spare time to taste wine, buying wine books and enrolling in a wine course.
Thembi & Co was established in 2009, as a joint venture between Thembi & Boland Vineyard International. In 2012 she bought back her shares from Boland and today sells a range of Thembi Fair Trade wines, mainly to the European market.
Thembi's name means hope, faith and belief - hope for a better life, belief that nothing is impossible. ´I believe that charity begins at home, but should not end there. We should be the change that we want to see - we live in a global village, hundreds of tourists visit Cape Town every month.´
But her vision stretches further than merely promoting a brand. For example, it was against the law for black people to drink wine in South Africa during the apartheid years, let alone be in the wine business. This is one of the reasons Thembi joined the wine industry: to make a difference, no matter how small.
