Cape Wine 22 was our first, big international wine event following Covid. We had been championing producers of colour for a few years at this point, and it was here that I had a chance encounter with M’hudi Wines.
I had spent the entire first day of Cape Wine tasting wines produced by winemakers of colour, and for a variety of reasons, I hadn’t been able to say ‘yes’ to any of them. This was disheartening as I’d been extremely enthusiastic and optimistic about unearthing hidden gems. On my way out of the event on day two, I was charmingly beckoned by Rae-Leigh Adonis of M’hudi wines. She had been chatting with Ntsiki Biyela of Aslina Wines, who had mentioned that we were her UK agents. I reluctantly went over to taste, expecting the same as I’d had so far – subpar, overpriced, or poorly branded wines.
As I got closer, I distinctly remember thinking, ‘these don’t look terrible’ – which my team will tell you is high praise when it comes to my judgement of labels.
We started with the barrel-fermented chenin blanc, which had managed to achieve a perfect balance between high-quality oak and the bracing freshness you find in the chenin blancs of the Western Cape. I was hooked, so Rae-Leigh began telling me the M’hudi story, which was one that really resonated with me.
M’hudi Wines is South Africa’s first, black-owned and managed wine farm. However, the story is much deeper than that. M’hudi is the story of Malmsey and her husband Diale Rangaka, who had the courage to bet on themselves. They took out bank loans, cashed in their pensions and in 2003, bought a wine farm. I too had quit my job in 2020 to start a wine company with a bank loan, so it was a path I could really relate to. By the time we had tasted through the flight, I realised there wasn’t one wine I disliked. This was the first time I had tasted an entire line up and immediately made the decision we had to have everything.
Malmsey Rangaka tells a story where, on her first day, she and Diale her husband were met with workers retained from the previous regime. The only language the ownership and their team shared was Afrikaans, which only Diale spoke. Two weeks later, Diale had to return to the city for the best part of two months, leaving his wife to manage affairs with a substantial language barrier in place. Such were some of the earlier challenges faced by this pioneering brand.
For us as importers, a wine must be good quality, offer value, and have a great story. These three pillars are non-negotiable for us, and we have on multiple occasions had to walk away from wineries which did not tick these boxes. We have always operated on the principle that any wines added to our portfolio must be of equal or better quality than those in the same price bracket. It was therefore a moment of vindication when, a year after importing M’hudi chenin blanc, it was awarded ‘Best in Class’ at the Drinks Business Masters. Sharing the news with Malmsey was certainly one of the highlights of our year.
We are both honoured and encouraged to be partnering with The Wine Society to amplify the voices of fringe players in the South African wine scene. Ultimately, M’hudi is proof that wine can cut through and transcend social and cultural barriers.