South African wines – A taste of Africa, by Africans
South Africa is known by restaurateurs, sommeliers, and connoisseurs worldwide for producing excellent wine. The country’s heritage of wine production dates back to 1659, when the region’s first bottle of wine was produced in Cape Town by Dutch colonist Jan van Riebeeck. A heritage thus inexorably steeped in colonialism; however, the last few years have seen the rise of exceptional African winemakers, who are making first-rate wines that are as good, if not better than, top wines from some of the oldest wineries in the country.
We would love to share some of our favorite wine brands, created and crafted by Africans, with you.
Aslina Wines is a brand created by one of South Africa’s first black female winemakers, Ntsiki Biyela. After 13 years as a winemaker for a topnotch local brand, Biyela realized her dream of creating her own wine brand as, in 2016, Aslina was born. Named for Biyela’s grandmother, Aslina is now a well-respected brand in its own right, known for its range of premium wines. We particularly recommend Aslina’s signature wine, ‘Umsasane’ (The Matriarch). This sophisticated blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot is at once bold and delicate, smooth and complex, just, apparently, like the woman who inspired it—Biyela’s grandmother. Aslina is available from a number of select distributors in the US, Germany, Taiwan, Ghana, Japan, the Netherlands, and Switzerland (as well as, of course, its native South Africa). Clients can also enquire directly about international purchases.
House of BNG by well-known South African television presenter, radio personality, businesswoman, and philanthropist Bonang Matheba is another internationally-available, black-owned South African wine brand that we would highly recommend. A luxury brand by self-professed ‘Champagne Queen’ Matheba, House of BNG focuses on superior ‘bubblies’, namely, a delightful Brut Rosé, a rather excellent Brut, and an exclusive, exquisite Prestige Reserve Brut. While House of BNG’s bubblies are created according to the age-old French tradition, Matheba opted to make her Méthode Cap Classiques (MCCs) with Cape grapes (rather than creating champagne from region-specific French grapes) to offer her clientele a high-class and authentic ‘taste of Africa’. As a testament to her commitment to excellence in the creation of her product, Matheba became the first black woman to be a member of the Cap Classique Producers Association. House of BNG is available at restaurants, hotels, and stockists across South Africa; if you visit the country, it is sure to be on the menu. International clients can also order House of BNG from trusted online wine merchant Port2Port.
Kunjani Wines is not only another top African-owned and crafted wine brand, they also boast their own estate in Stellenbosch, one of the country’s chief wine regions. Carmen Stevens, creator of Kunjani Wines, is an award-winning winemaker (with numerous Top 10 Pinotages and the 2008 ‘Decanter Red Bordeaux Varietals Trophy’ for her AmaniCabernet Franc/Merlot 2006 under her belt), and she is also a well-known philanthropist. Her eponymous foundation has raised and donated incredible sums (ZAR 2.5 million+) to feed and educate poverty-stricken children. A visit to Kunjani estate—including dining at their top-class restaurant and sampling their wine-tastings—is a must for any visitor to Cape Town. In terms of their wines, we greatly recommend Kunjani’s Cabernet Sauvignon and their Sauvignon Blanc. Clients can enquire about international sales. You may also want to consider joining their Loyalty Club, which is free to join and offers 20% discount on their wines as well as numerous other benefits.
Other outstanding African-owned wine brands, which will hopefully expand into international sales soon (we recommend enquiring directly with them!) include: Seven Sisters Wines, Epicurean, Siwela Wines, and Kumusha.
If you have had a particularly good African-crafted wine, let us know!
By Illona Meyer
