Alongside established zones such as Cape Town and the Western Cape wine route, there was growing interest in new sights associated with the political struggle and African experiences.
Lenn will be contributing three stories about the wines of Long Island and I've filed the stories under travel since Lenn tackles the wines and wineries by wine routes.
This is a film that could have easily gone wrong - how interesting can two friends going on a wine route possibly be?
The Alsatian wine route is one of France's glories.
South African wines win international awards every year, and the country has the longest wine route in the world.
We had a reasonably priced lunch of gourmet sandwiches on the patio, and appropriately strengthened continued on our way along the wine route towards our next destination: Niagara Falls.
But for the lucky ones who manage to climb onto the world stage, they will know that their journey started in the first week of October 2004, in a town more famous for wine routes than for winning World Cups.
Wine regions represented include the Robertson Valley, Constantia and Simonsberg wine routes.
Held in a small hotel in the snail-shaped village of Egusheim at the heart of Alsace's wine route, her two and three day courses pose a serious threat to anybody who regards food as simply something you eat.