Our Story

The County Wine Tours is owned and operated by Sandbanks Vacations, a short-term vacation rental agency and wine & specialty tour operator based in Bloomfield, Ontario.

In March 2023, The County Wine Tours was purchased from the three best friends-turned-business partners who founded the company in 2017, to Richard Barrett, CEO of Sandbanks Vacations. 

Both companies are deeply committed to excellent customer service, employ staff who possess expert local knowledge, and look forward to assisting you plan your next visit to Prince Edward County.

Photo of Richard Barrett of Sandbanks Vacations.

 

 

Founders

Erin Bury

Erin is proud to be one of the co-founders of The County Wine Tours. She grew up visiting Sandbanks beach before The County was a wine destination, and she now lives in PEC full-time. She considers herself an excellent wine taster, and has been on wine tours in Italy, Portugal, and South Africa. Erin is the CEO at Willful, an online estate planning company that scored a deal on TV’s Dragons’ Den. She’s been named one of Bay St. Bull’s Women of the Year, and she sits on the board at Save the Children Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genevive Savundranayagam

Genevive has been visiting The County for over a decade and immediately fell in love with its charm and wine. She first discovered her love of wine while living on a vineyard in Italy, and has since sipped her way through California, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. When she’s not doing wine “research” around the world, she spends a lot of time in her home in The County. Genevive is the co-founder of The County Wine Tours and also of Mahara Mindfulness, a lifestyle business she launched in 2020 with Sheba. Together they launched The Human Being Journal, a monthly, guided journal to help people live their best lives. The journal has been featured in The New York Times, Oprah Daily and The Ellen Show. 

 

 

 

 

Sheba Zaidi

Sheba is one of the co-founders of The County Wine Tours. She grew up in the Middle East, but has spent the last decade visiting The County. She is a lover of food and travel and has been on wine tours in Italy, Portugal, Greece, South Africa, Peru, Santa Barbara and more locally in the Okanagan Valley and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Sheba is the co-founder of Mahara Mindfulness which she launched in the pandemic with Genevive and together they created The Human Being Journal which was included in Oprah’s Healthy Living ‘O’ List and featured in The New York Times. She has previously interned at the United Nations in NYC. Fun fact: Sheba is followed by Barack Obama and Britney Spears on Twitter.