Linda Birch is a qualified attorney and conveyancer and currently works as consultant for the Bellingham Muller Hanekom law practice.
Her love of wine, especially South African wines, started when she was studying law at Stellenbosch University and later in 2000 she attended the CWA’s Introduction to Wine course at the V&A Waterfront.
After she moved with her husband, Louis van Schalkwyk, to Devon Valley in Stellenbosch, she completed the certificate course at Jordan Wine Estate in 2005 and the diploma course three years later.
In 2018 she started her studies as a Cape Wine Master. She graduated in 2024. Her dissertation on "The Evolution of Colombar in South Africa" has resulted in a new venture promoting Colombar and raising awareness of this truly South African cultivar as part of the Old Vine Project.
In her free time she enjoys camping in the wild and exploring Southern Africa with her husband in their Land Rover. In 2020 they were invited to cross the Atlantic in the Cape to Rio yacht race.