Description
About Route Du Van Wines
In 1981 a couple of us met at Roseworthy Agricultural College, where we were studying winemaking and marketing. The more usual route to Roseworthy was straight out of school before joining the family’s winery business; ours was less predictable. One of us, Ian, had just returned from a five month road trip, eating and drinking his way around the wine regions of France and Italy. The trip prompted an abandonment of his previous profession to study wine more seriously.
In another part of the world another person, Tod, had made a similar decision to head to Roseworthy. His journey, though different, still captured the spirit of a journey into wine. Skiing in Colorado during the 1978/79 season, he still wasn’t sure which direction to take when the snow had melted. In a moment of inspiration someone suggested he get in his old battered Kombi van and ‘Head west, young man! Why not see if you can get some work in the Napa Valley, after all, you like wine!’. The rest is history, as he landed a job at Cakebread Cellars and was bitten by the bug. Thirty years later, having becoming good friends, and helping establish some of Australia’s iconic brands for other wineries, ‘the boys’ were back in France doing what they love; visiting wineries, eating, drinking and watching their other passion. Le Tour de France. A plan was hatched to get on the road again and come up with our ‘road trip’ wines.
So instead of you having to do all the driving we thought we could do it for you. You could join our road trip from the comfort of you home or favourite restaurant. Victoria is our starting point for the journey as we live there, love the wines and believe they make great drinks. From Victoria, who knows, maybe the world. We certainly will head back to our beloved France as we know of some hidden gems we think you will enjoy. With a dreamer in the van and a winemaker on board, we still lacked someone to steer the van on the straight and narrow. We enlisted the help of backseat driver David, who loved our idea and also has a passion for wine, food and travel. Route du Van was born and ready to hit the road. Please join us, and our friends, as we head out on our quest to bring you exciting drinkable wines.
