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I took part in a Virtual Wine Tour of Lanzarote recently. It was brilliant. What an extraordinary landscape! This image is from Turismo Lanzarote. Watch the video HERE before you listen to this podcast with Ollie Horton of Wine Tours Lanzarote. It brings it all alive! Wine Tours Lanzarote was set up by Ollie Horton, an English man from the Channel Islands. (He does, intriguingly, mention that there was an Irishman involved also ...) The business seemed like a great idea for someone with a background in - surfing and finance! Well, it was. Why? Because Ollie knew the island backwards, had taken a genuine interest in its unique wines and craft beers. He could see there was a gap in the market. His potential customer base would be found hidden amongst the hundreds of thousands of sun seeking tourists who flocked in from the UK and Ireland every year. Bingo. It worked. And why not - Lanzarote has some of the most extraordinary vineyards in the world built into its slopes of ancient lava flows. Then Covid hit. Tourism ceased and the Lanzarote Wine Tours business crashed. Not to be deterred Ollie set up Lanzarote Virtual Wine Tours along with an online wine shop - Wine Shop Lanzarote. They work hand in hand as when you buy a virtual tour you are also sent a bottle of wine from the Island. The wine shop is top class. It gathers the best products from a number of the island's best wineries and allows you to mix and match. Delivery was initially a UK and Ireland only service but has since expanded across the rest of Europe. This podcast has a slight echo feel to Ollie's voice - but, then, he was speaking to us from an island! Enjoy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- While all restaurants in Ireland were closed until Christmas 2020 many reopened. That was great news - Open Again. Then we heard that they had to close once more - on Christmas Eve. Tough times, Tough times indeed. Here's hoping for a more successful business environment in 2021. Hopefully after Easter? was the Hope. Now it's likely mid June - outdoor dining only.... We should remember that many of these, including the wonderful Monty's of Kathmandu, are family businesses. They are often small and brilliant and need our support more than ever. Keep Safe and Keep well. Kevin Ecock's WinePod is brought to us with the assistance of the Santa Rita Wine Room at Monty's of Kathmandu - an excellent place to host your next event or celebration. Contact Shiva at 01 -6704911 or HERE at the Santa Rita Wine Room web page.