We initially looked at finding investors, but the current climate in South Africa has seen wine producers brought to their knees by not being able to sell their wines during the alcohol ban. We had to find a different way. A self sustainable way forward that didn’t rely on investors.
Give the people what they want! After hearing about an estimated 300 million litres of surplus wine, we couldn’t deny the idea of using some of that wine to raise funds for our scholarship.
So there we were. Two people starting a wine brand that aims to do good. A wine brand that wants to make a difference. A wine brand where the profits are used to fund a scholarship for people of colour wanting to further their wine studies. But two people who have never sold wine before was, unsurprisingly, not successful. We spent 3 years trying many options and learning about how the wine business works.
There were so many generous people. Mentors, wine suppliers, and people, like you, who have been incredibly supportive and patient with us. Thank you!
But we reached the point where we realised that selling the wine brand to cover the remaining outstanding production costs was the most viable and responsible decision.
We still believe in the scholarship and are exploring alternative, more traditional ways of raising funds. Our core values have not changed. We still believe in easily accessible wine education. But, for now, we’ve reined in our lofty scholarship goals and are refocusing on growing a more diverse number of educated South African wine appreciators.
Kunye means together. Cassidy and I were only two people…but we got together to run a little wine workshop. We came together to write a wine book. And now, post pandemic, we’ll be meeting with a few of you to host in-person wine workshops, produce more educational material, and build little communities of wine appreciators who can nerd out on wine together.