Meet Tim Clarke: A Pioneer of Wine Tours
Tim Clarke, alongside his wife Lynette Arblaster, co-founded Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours, which they ran for 30 years. Under Tim’s leadership in programming and marketing, A&C became the world’s leading wine tours company. Tim is one of the pioneers of wine tourism, introducing innovative concepts such as the ‘Champagne Weekend’ in 1986 and leading the first international consumer wine tours to regions like Australia, Sicily, Uruguay, and Greece.
A Career Rooted in Wine
Tim began his journey in the wine industry in the early 1980s, working in wine retail in London and witnessing firsthand the growing fascination with Champagne and emerging wine regions. He played a pivotal role in connecting consumers to wine culture through tours that combined education with exploration.
New Horizons
Since selling Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours, Tim has focused on various projects, including producing a ‘passito-style’ Muscat wine on the Greek island of Samos, planting a vineyard in Hampshire, and working with WINEROUTES, a wine tourism consultancy. Starting in 2022, Tim joined Variety Cruises as their Wine Ambassador, where he develops Wine Cruises, Greek Wine Tours, and other special interest cruise programs across the Mediterranean.
