Education is very close to our hearts and when the Pebbles project coordinator for Youth Development, Zukani Metshane, reached out to see how we could assist with a program to meet their youth where it made sense, we were very keen to see what we could do. Fast forward a few weeks, and we have just completed our first Wine Service Essentials course for 15 of the youth identified by Pebbles to be most likely to benefit from the training and also to set them up to be better skilled for work placements and work opportunities in the wine industry. Neil Tabraham, or fondly known by the end of the training as 'Mr Neil' - reimagined the Wine Advisor Level 1 course into more bite size bits - and designed the Wine Service Essentials course, which we plan to roll out further during 2027. It is a 4-day course, starting off with a tasting at a winery, giving the students a taste of what a wine-tasting actually is. Thanks so much to Christiaan van der Heever from Beyerskloof, who took time from his precious time to take the 15 through their first wine tasting, and at the same time, introducing them to our authentic grape variety, Pinotage. Pinotage is celebrating its centenary this year, since Prof Abraham Izak Perold crossed Hermitage (Cinsault) and Pinot Noir in 1925.