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Thabani heralds new era for black South African wine. 10 April 2002 "We feel that we have broken through a "Berlin Wall" of the wine industry by opening up a way forward for many young black South African winemakers" African-made wines take a step on to the international stage next week when the wholly black-owned Thabani Wines make their debut at the Cape Wines 2002 Expo at Nederburg in Paarl. Thabani's participation in the expo, being held from April 16 to April 18, is a breakthrough for black wine makers and will give Thabani Wines the opportunity to gain access to international markets as well as exposing their wines to top wine connoisseurs. The wine industry has a long history in Africa dating back to 3000BC when grapevines were brought to Egypt from Palestine, and later flourished in Algeria. Thabani director, Trevor Steyn, is eager to build on and extend this tradition by establishing "African" winemaking as a force in the international wine industry. "We are aiming to bring to the world an authentically African wine that has been developed on this continent and produced by African people," said Steyn. Thabani Wines currently offers three wines that have been blended in the Western Cape. They are a Merlot/Shiraz (2001) and Sauvignon Blanc (2002) as well as an easy drinking range called "Laatlammetjie" that has been developed as a second label. Thabani Wine company is based in Stellenbosch and has plans for building a boutique blending cellar in KwaZulu/Natal. Its wines will be sourced from quality vineyards in Algeria as well as the historic Cape winelands representing the best of the Old and New Worlds. Jabulani Ntshangase, a co-founding director of the company, sees Thabani's participation at Cape Wine 2002 as a breakthrough for black wine producers in an industry that has been difficult for particularly black entrepreneurs to enter. "We feel that we have broken through a "Berlin Wall" of the wine industry by opening up a way forward for many young black South African winemakers" Ntshangase said. In addition to producing wine, Thabani is also engaged in encouraging black students to enter the wine industry. Its efforts have resulted in a four-fold increase in the number of black BSc viticulture /Oenology graduates in South Africa. Ntshangase says the excitement and enthusiasm created by the new possibilities in the wine industry was continuing to attract more and more youngsters. He sees Thabani's presence at the Expo as the vanguard of a whole new crop of young black winemakers. Cape Wine 2002 has succeeded in attracting some top international and local wine experts. About 160 wineries will be presenting 2,000 different wines across the entire gamut of the trade, from value to super-premium. Over 300 foreign buyers and more than 50 wine writers from all over the world, will be crowding the aisles and tasting rooms for samples of South Africa's best. Issued by HWB Communications on behalf of Thabani Wines (Pty) Ltd. |
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