First South African producer to release canned wines in the US
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – April 1, 2019: Lubanzi Wines, a fast growing South African wine brand, and a recently certified B Corporation, is becoming the first South African producer to launch canned wines in the United States on April 1st, 2019. The wines will be initially distributed across the US throughout select markets.
Lubanzi, led by co-founders Walker Brown & Charles Brain, was launched in Cape Town in 2016 & named for a wandering dog who led the pair on a 6 day, 100 mile backpacking trip through a remote part of South Africa’s southeastern coastline, The Wild Coast. The business operates as a social enterprise, whose mantra and mission is to help create a more sustainable and equitable supply chain. Lubanzi shares its profits with a non-profit partner in South Africa, The Pebbles Project, who provides health and educational resources to the communities who labor on South Africa’s wine farms. The company’s launch of South Africa’s first canned wine is a reflection of its ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability & innovation.
“Everything we’ve tried to do, up until this point, has not only been about trying to make great, forward-thinking, clean, and affordable wines, but also about trying to connect and showcase Cape Town & The Western Cape as a whole, a place whose cultural identity, it’s very spirit and essence, coincidentally, we think, falls so deeply in line with the growing cultural identity that now surrounds wine in cans.”
“Venturing with bright eyes into the canned wine movement felt like a natural extension of who we are as a business & a brand, and a very due and deserved step in South Africa’s journey to claiming its rightful place, in quality and in innovation, at the American table.”
Like some of the American West Coast’s canned wine trail blazers, the project is about portability, sustainability, and going where bottled wines simply can’t. “If any country embodies the spirit that has supported the boom of canned wine, it is South Africa.”
Built on self-described pillars of adventure, culture, and global citizenship, Lubanzi still continues to focus chiefly on process and quality. The wines are Fair Trade Fair for Life certified, vegan, and have received 90+ scores from notable wine critics vintage over vintage.
“The category is fantastic fun, but the qualities the same. These wines are the same ones that go into our bottles.”
Lubanzi’s cans go live on April 1, and consumers can find them by the glass in restaurants, at their neighborhood retailers, and online at www.lubanziwines.com.
About Lubanzi Wines
Lubanzi is the sole label from Cape Venture Wine Co., a start-up, sustainable South African wine company, created in Cape Town by two young travelers, Charles Brain & Walker Brown, alongside a small collection of well-known South African winemakers, viticulturists, farm laborers, and humanitarians. The name Lubanzi comes from a wandering dog that followed the founders on a 6 day, 100-mile hiking trip across South Africa’s remote Wild Coast. Built upon the notion of pioneering a more sustainable & equitable supply chain, 50% of its net profits are returned to a non-profit supporting the communities who labor on the country’s wine farms. Lubanzi is distributed in over 30 U.S. states & 2 additional countries. Lubanzi is also a certified B Corporation©. For more details & where to find the wines, visit www.lubanziwines.com or call +1 202 573 7292.
