In South Africa, a tour of Black-owned wineries making their mark

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“You must come visit us,” winery owner Paul Siguqa announces to visitors tasting his wine during Cape Wine 2022, the trade fair that attracted buyers, sommeliers and trade professionals from around the world to Cape Town, South Africa earlier this month.

The son of a farm labourer, Siguqa has become the first Black winery owner in Franschhoek. He says he was able to purchase Klein Goederust in 2019, due to the dilapidated condition of the 10-hectare estate (which included various century-old buildings) located between the main road and the railway line. A more desirable property would have been snapped up by another local or foreign investor.

Siguqa explains Klein Goederust offered little to salvage. “We started from scratch,” he says.

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White South Africans own nearly 80 per cent of the farmland, despite only representing roughly 8 per cent of the population. Black people own 2.5 per cent of the country’s vineyard acreage, according to the industry trade group, Vinpro. Twenty-seven years since the free and democratic election of Nelson Mandela brought the end to apartheid, South Africa’s wine industry struggles to create opportunity for Black ownership.

The lack of land ownership as well as farming, winemaking, marketing expertise and generational wealth present significant barriers to enter the wine trade. Siguqa, who was raised on a wine estate, was challenged to pursue education and would study business at Stellenbosch University before working in media.

“If you grow up on farms as children of farm labourers you will automatically become the next crop of labour,” he explains. “My mother decided that she would be the last crop of labour. … Her children would go to school so that they could explore other opportunities.”

Franschhoek is considered the food and wine capital of South Africa. The town is home to eight of the top 100 restaurants in the country and more than 30 wine cellars. Its vineyard land is amongst the most expensive in the country, fetching an average of 1-million rands (about $75,000) a hectare because of the quality of wines produced.

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The rehabilitation of Klein Goederust began with the removal of the existing vineyards. In-depth soil analysis was conducted to ensure the best varieties would be planted on the site. They expect to harvest their first crop of grapes next year, from a young block of mourvèdre, to produce a rosé. The 2024 vintage should provide chenin blanc, chardonnay and other varieties. Meanwhile grapes are being purchased from other vineyards in the area. His flagship release is a traditional method sparkling wine named after his mother, Nomaroma Siguqa. It’s made in a rich and refined style, with zesty citrus notes mingling with creamy and toasty flavours.

A restaurant is a big part of the hospitality. Siguqa stresses its menu features African dishes, not French or Italian cuisine. “We serve African food because Franschhoek is in Africa,” he says. A recent menu offered spit-roasted lamb, with spiced pickled fish and sweet potato roll in a caramel sauce as sides.

“We are a small operation, we cannot compete on size,” Siguqa says, “but we can compete on quality; the quality of service, the quality of the experience we offer.”

According to the gregarious owner, there was never a question about changing the name of the estate to reflect its modern reality as one of only a few Black owned wineries in South Africa. “It was a conscious choice,” he says.

There was also some marketing savvy behind the decision, he admits. Put a bottle of Paul Siguqa wine beside a bottle of Klein Goederust and many consumers could dismiss the newcomer for the established pedigree (circa 1905 declares the label) of the farm. The quality of the wines and their packaging is tied to his success, he explains.

The name of the estate carries forward but Siguqa points to the southern ground hornbill, a native bird known as insingizi, featured on that label. It’s the clan totem of his Nziphazi Magoba ancestors, he explains. “We wanted to preserve the history and acknowledge the people that were there before us, while also bringing in our own identity.”

The winery opened in December, 2021, and is already making a mark in the tourism industry. Siguqa, who says neighbouring wineries help by suggesting visitors drop by their tasting rooms. The hope is to join other established black-owned brands and operations that have become fixtures on the wine route.

The Aslina brand was founded in 2016 by Ntsiki Biyela, a pioneering Black female winemaker in the country who works with purchased grapes from Stellenbosch to produce an exciting portfolio of red and white wines, including a polished and flavourful cabernet sauvignon. Seven Sisters winery was launched in 2007 by the seven Brutus sisters and their younger brother, working out of a vineyard in Stellenbosch.

Early success was seen in 2003, when Thandi became the world’s first Fairtrade certified wine brand and helped propel South Africa to be the leading producer of Fairtrade wines in the world. Thandi Wines is 51-per-cent owned by 250 farm worker families who own three vineyards.

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Considered to be among the elite winemakers working in South Africa, Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines recently established their own empowerment project, Great Heart, which operates as separate company owned by its staff. Gynore Fredericks, who works as assistant winemaker at Mullineux & Leeu cellars in Stellenbosch and Swartland, makes the Great Heart wines. “For the directors of the company, it’s not only about giving back, but giving mentorship and leadership to the people,” she says.

A graduate of Elsenburg Agricultural College in Stellenbosch, Fredericks was accepted into the Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust Protégé Programme, which gives aspiring winemakers three-year internships with some of South Africa’s top winemakers. She worked at Tokara and De Grendel wineries in South Africa, and as a cellar hand in Burgundy before joining the team at Mullineux & Leeu in 2018.

The winemakers guild internship is one of the industry’s initiatives to create stable jobs in a country where unemployment rates currently hover around 33 per cent, but increase to more than 60 per cent for South Africans that 15 to 24 years old.

Workers own the Great Heart brand and uses the infrastructure of Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines to make and sell wine. The profits are divided among staff members who have been employed for two years or longer. The initial release of two white wines and two red wines have been well-received by writers and critics around the world. The project is laudable. The wines are sensational.

“Each year we get a dividend from the company, and I get to make the wine, it’s a win-win for me,” says Fredericks. Beyond improving the livelihoods of the staff and their families, the success of this high-profile venture is sure to unlock greater opportunity for economic participation of Black people in South Africa’s wine industry.

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