South African wine served on American Airlines
Thursday, 18 June, 2009
Heritage Link Brands
American Airlines recently chose the Seven Sisters Sauvignon Blanc
(Vivian) as the first South African wine ever to be served onboard its
flights, worldwide.
This milestone not only confirms the outstanding quality of wine being produced by the Seven Sisters, but also shows what is possible when family unites to overcome pain and hardship through faith, determination and love.
Four years ago, Selena Cuffe came to the Soweto Wine Festival in its very first year and became inspired to help indigenous African producers overcome their distribution struggles. She went back to the USA to start Heritage Links Brands. Since then they have expanded to also offer wines produced by people of African descent around the world.
"I met Selena at the 1st Soweto Wine show in 2005. This was also my 1st wine show. She was a curious tourist who saw a write up in the local news paper about the wine show and wanted to see how this is possible. All she new about Soweto was that Mandela lived there.
"My booth was the very first booth that she visited and fell in love with the wines. She wanted to know if she could buy it in America and I laughed at her. We have been trying for a year to get into the local market and I said to her, you cannot even get it at the local chain stores let alone the US," says Vivian Kleynhans, Managing Director of Seven Sisters Wines.
This is a feather in the cap of
Andries Blake, winemaker at Swartland and wine supply partner to Seven Sisters Wines. "This shows
that we are not making wine in our backyards, and we are not selling unknown
and cheap brands overseas. Seven Sisters is fast becoming a household name in
the States with quality wines."
Black Enterprise magazine recently honored the best of the best through its Small Business Awards, and Heritage Link Brands received the "B.E. Next of the Year" distinction. This award is presented to a fearless young entrepreneurial company that is tapped as a future business leader in its industry.