Somm on Call brings the sommelier experience to your mobile phone

23 Oct 2020

Spencer Fondaumiere and Tinashe Nyamdoka, two respected South African sommeliers, have launched a digital platform called Somm on Call that gives the broader public access to the pair's in-depth wine knowledge and product recommendations.

Spencer Fondaumiere and Tinashe Nyamdoka

Leap into digital commerce

“The new site brings the art of being a sommelier into the future: a combination of marketplace and advice portal for South Africans that are curious about less mainstream wines. We’re taking the sommelier experience and expanding it beyond the walls of conventional restaurants, straight to consumers’ mobile phones," explains Nyamdoka.

Fondaumiere adds, “Somm on Call has come about as a result of the need to elevate the advice and knowledge that we can offer and really awesome products beyond just the restaurant floor, and into a digital space. Our aim is to connect curious consumers with interesting wines that stretch far beyond what is more widely available.”

The platform offers a carefully curated selection of wines, available in limited quantities. “We’ve both tapped into our ‘little black books’, driven to the individual farms to meet with the winemakers and choose the really special stuff," says Fondaumiere.

Somm On Call works closely with Attie Louw and Opstal Estate in Rawsonville, with Louw occupying the role of head of operations at Somm on Call.

Advice and recommendations

Wine lovers are encouraged to sign up to Somm on Call to receive fortnightly offers recommended by the Somms. In addition, the pair are available to answer any wine-related questions.

“The benefit of having a sommelier on call 24/7 is endless,” says Nyamdoka. “If you need help on what to pair with the wines you have in your collection, how you should serve your wines, detail on the cultivar you might be sampling or about the region - these are all things we can help with.”

The founding pair boasts an impressive list of accolades, with Fondaumiere ranking amongst 500 ASI diploma qualified sommeliers and Nyamdoka holding accreditations from the Cape Wine Academy, UCT GSB and the European Court of Master Sommeliers, to name a few. They are both regular independent wine judges and both hold judging certificates from the Michael Fridjhon Academy.