Black winemakers to make their mark at Johannesburg Cap Classique & Champagne Festival
Durban — Their passion for bubbles and fondness of making a meaningful difference in people’s lives is what drove the founders of Amari Wines to venture into winery.
Amari Wines was co-founded by Siya Maphalala, Luyanda Maphalala, Xolani Mancotywa and Sazi Ngcobo in 2017.
The brand has been selected as one of several black-owned wine brands to attend the upcoming Johannesburg Cap Classique & Champagne Festival, which takes place at the Inanda Polo Club on March 25 and 26, 11am to 4pm.
Co-founder Siya Maphalala from uMlazi, south of Durban, said it has always been his dream to create jobs and inspire people to participate in the wine space.
“I hope and know there will be many more jobs created since we have only just started and so far we have created a few employment opportunities.”
Siya said the biggest challenge they were facing in their business was the “sourcing of the liquid” they use to make wines due to climate change, which hinders production.
He said the highlight of the business was to showcase the good quality liquid that they have and being proud to be black wine suppliers within the space.
“We are happy with the progress we have made today because it shows the strides we have made as Amari,” said Siya.
Another co-founder, Sazi Ngcobo, said their end goal was to use this brand as a vehicle to benefit the country through job creation and education.
“We plan to create a programme to educate more winemakers. We launched with one bubbly, the Amari Lush. In the long term we see Amari as an international brand and our immediate plans are to launch our brut this year, followed by our rosé (Amari Blush), then we plan to take on Africa with our focus markets being Nigeria, Angola and Ghana,” said Ngcobo.
Their ultimate goal was to be a globally recognised brand that is proudly South African.
He said while the growth has been massive, the journey has been hard.
“After self-funding the entire project, going back and forth for a year to find the perfect taste profile and learning as much as we could about the wine industry, our first bubbly, Amari Lush, was launched in February 2021: in the midst of Covid.”
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