Long renowned as one of South Africa's foremost wine experts, Pietman Retief won the 2009 South African Best Tour Guide award at Indaba in Durban.

With over 35 years' experience in the wine and brandy industry, Pietman is also recognised as being extremely knowledgeable regarding the heritage, culture and political history of the region. With an ongoing interest in the unique floral kingdom of the Cape, he has visited Kew Gardens in London to further his research.

In the past, he has led more than a dozen tours worldwide promoting South Africa's wine. In between tours, he lectures at the Cape Wine Academy on the country's 350 years of winemaking and viticulture.

His contribution has been acknowledged by his peers at South Africa's Wine Industry Wine Legends Awards held during the 350 year celebrations in 2010.

With this unique range of experience, it will come as no surprise that he is retained by several of the UK's top tour operators to give their clients the finest insight available into the fascinating world of wine, history and culture in present day South Africa.

His appeal can be summed up by this visitor on one of his One Day VIP Tours. "Thank you so much for a wonderful day around Stellenbosch. It was so much more than just a wine tasting and to be able to learn from your zeal and passion for culture, history and wines of the region was just amazing." Tricia Ward, London.