A happy story in a hard lockdown

A happy story in a hard lockdown

I daresay there are few people who will not be happy in a month’s time to show a clean pair of heels to 2020, as they escape into the dawn of a new year. But amongst those few, ironically, are Paul and Cathy du Toit of the Wine Village.

Owners of the Wine Village, Cathy and Paul du Toit are amongst the few who have a happy story to tell about the year of the pandemic, highlighting the importance of family and friends in a global context.

PHOTO: Elaine Davie

Given the off-again, on-again, limited-trading-hours gymnastics of the stern-faced guardians of the State of Disaster, one might imagine that purveyors of alcoholic beverages would be amongst the most despondent citizens in the country today. Not so, Paul and Cathy.

Astonishingly, in the 22 years since they started the Wine Village, this year (year-on-year during the winter months), has been their best ever. “It has been a year of many blessings for us and for the business,” smiles Paul, “not only as far as the bottom line is concerned. Most of all, it has been a year of gratitude for the support we have received from customers in this country and all over the world and for the opportunity it has given us to deepen the relationships shared amongst our team at the Wine Village.”

“We obviously had to close the shop during Level 5 of the lockdown,” adds Cathy, “but throughout that time, the online orders and emails of support came pouring in. We couldn’t believe it. We received messages from customers from Japan to France, telling us that they were so sorry that Covid-19 was hitting the wine industry in this country so hard.

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