Khayelitsha's Finest Wines goes global

Produly South African small wine business offering travels to the Big Apple.

A proudly South African small, black-owned business called Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines has travelled across the globe and is now available in one of the most iconic locations of the world, New York City.

Founded and owned by Lindile Ndzaba, Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines launched in December 2018 and has since gained global recognition with its launch in the US.

Going global

Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines travelled 12,557km over the Atlantic Ocean to reach West Side Wine, an NYC-based wine store that believes in supporting small wine producers.

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The story of how Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines made it to the Big Apple is an unlikely one, starting with the impacts of the pandemic and the local alcohol bans. Although the bans had a severely negative impact on local traders, Lindile says that it “opened new opportunities with exports as it was allowed” and that the global communities came together to help South African wineries.

With a focus on placing Khayelitsha on the global map, Lindile says that it is very satisfying to have his brand’s wines available overseas, but that “it has not always been about me and my brand. It has always been about the underprivileged communities like Khayelitsha to be recognised globally in a positive way.”

Currently, the 2020 Red blend and the 2020 Blanc Fume are available at the NYC-based wine shop.

New projects

Lindile says that there are new and exciting projects in the pipeline for Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines.

“One of the projects in the pipeline is to build a tasting room in Khayelitsha. We hope to sell more wine so we can achieve this.”

The history behind Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines

Having worked in the hospitality industry since 2009, Lindile was exposed to wine culture – a concept that, at the time, was foreign to townships. It was this exposure that planted the seed to create Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines.

“My inspiration is heavily influenced by my background in the hospitality scene. I started working as a dishwasher and I worked my way up. Through the journey, I also assisted wine sommeliers in hosting wine tastings. It was then I was exposed to the wine culture that never existed where I’m from, in the township. I realised that there was a huge gap in the market to introduce premium wine in townships,” explains Lindile.

Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines aims to bring wine culture and wine into township areas and works alongside various vineyards from the Cape to create small batches of high-quality wines.

Lindile says that his favourite wine at the moment from the Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines range is the 2017 White Blend because “it is so delightful and lip-smacking. This is the wine I want to drink with friends and family all day, every day; it’s super approachable.”