The founder of Mzansi Craft Wine was inspired to start a winery by her love of bubbles and her desire to make a significant difference in people's lives.
Kwanele Nyawo, 36, has been a wine enthusiast since she was a child. Driven by passion, Nyawo founded Khulu Fine Wine in 2021.
She said it would not have been possible without the help of her partner.
"At first, I didn't know how my dream was ever going to come to life, but my partner also played a major role in the development of our business.
"Over the years, I have visited a number of wine estates, and that spiked the desire in me to want to have my own wine label.
"Ever since I ventured into this business, my love for bubbles has grown tremendously, and I really enjoy what I do, and half the time it doesn't even feel like work because I love it," she said.
Nyawo said Khulu means "great" in isiZulu. She said she and her partner wanted to create a great wine brand and shine the spotlight on various wine-making regions in the winelands.
"We have a number of winemakers across the Cape Winelands that produce and manufacture Khulu Fine Wine. Our goal for Khulu is to be a well-established brand that is synonymous with quality wine, and for our Methode Cap Classique (MCC) to be one of the best-rated MCCs in the country.
"We currently distribute our wines around South Africa, and orders can be placed via our website, www.khululuxury.com, and we are also in discussions with certain retailers regarding the distribution of our wines.
"We are a boutique wine brand, so we do not produce large volumes of wine. We prefer to focus more on quality than numbers," she said.
Nyawo said one of the biggest challenges she encountered was starting a business from scratch.
"Starting a business has been challenging in more ways than I had bargained for. It required a gargantuan level of discipline, among a whole lot of other things that you find out on your journey.
"Because I was determined to venture into this business and evolve, I didn't give up; instead, I pushed harder to reach my goal, and self-determination and teamwork played a huge role in making this business a success," she said.
Nyawo said outside of business, she enjoyed reading and spending time with her family and friends.
She said there had been a number of highlights in her business, one of which was being the first black-owned brand to do a wine-tasting event on the Blue Train.
"Our future plan is to distribute our wines abroad one day," Nyawo said.
