Makaziwe Mandela and Tukiwini Mandela, daughter and granddaughter of South Africa former president, Nelson Mandela; are partnering with Fairview, Thelema, Hartenberg, Citrusdal and Dutoitsklloof wineries to launch a new Fairtrade wine range to the United Kingdom from their home country, South Africa.
Billed to be sold under the brand name, House of Mandela, the new wine will include a premium and sparkling set of wines that will showcase some of the best product from South Africa.
The wines will be introduced to the international wine market for the first time at this week’s Cape Wine exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa. The wines will be subsequently made available for sale in the Africa, UK, the US, China and Brazil.
Members of the Mandela family are already working with UK-based Off Piste Wines for trading and distribution plans in the UK.
The Mandelas had worked closely with Lynne Sheriif MW to draw up a shortlist of over 30 producers they could potentially work with. The producers were chosen based on their quality of having good trading and working practices and the fact that they must have a clear understanding that the wines produced are fair trade.
Makaziwe told Harpers that building a wine range was a challenge feat for the family given the fact that they had no prior experience of the wine industry.
“We are the new kids on the block and there are not many people like us in the trade. But we know the Mandela brand is a South African brand as well and we hope we will be able to make a small contribution to let the world know about South African wines,” Makaziwe said.
She added that although they were cautious in developing their own wine, they are happy to do so on the understanding of the significant role South African wine plays not only within the economy, but as a major employer across the country.
The label designs feature designs taken from Nelson Mandela’s colourful collection of shirts. Makaziwe Mandela said that Mandela had tasted the wines as part of his 90th birthday celebrations and “liked them very much.”
Early this year, Mandela’s daughter, Zenani Mandela-Dlamini launched a fashion label which she said was inspired by the title of Nelson Mandela’s biography, “Long Walk To Freedom”.
