Carmen

By: Mbali Mbatha

The shortage of Black stakeholders in the wine industry saw Carmen Stevens renting 2 cellars for her winery business due to limited infrastructure for brewers of color. Registering South Africa’s first ever Black-owned winery in 2019, especially being a female, would only prove fruitful for this seasoned winemaker who shares the late Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s sentiments about education being the most powerful weapon to changing the world. With products like a sparkling rose, sauvignon blanc, merlot, and nemrac among others, Carmen Stevens Wines’ variety of offerings is a wine connoisseur's African dream.

Upon realizing that she was spending more time on the road and less time making wine, Carmen decided that having her own cellars would be the best way to steer her winery toward success despite her concerns about market access being a rumor for Black-owned businesses in her industry.

“The lack of Black businesses in the wine industry makes it even more important for the Black consumer to be conscious and seek out Blackowned brands,” she says. To open herself up to more opportunities, the confident winemaker who is no stranger to risk-taking, started entering entrepreneurship competitions, and what a worthwhile step it would prove to be as Carmen Stevens Wines has become a household name across our borders with dozens of both local and international awards to their name.

Winemaker of the Year award in California, Winemaker of the DECADE in the United Kingdom, as well as Top Exporter in Agriculture South Africa, are just a few of the accolades that this force to be reckoned with has under her belt to date As a matter of fact, between September 2022 and July 2023 Carmen Stevens Wines have already scooped up more than 20 awards, with more than one award for each wine If in less than 12 months this powerful wine brand can reach a star this bright, one can only wait eagerly to see where Carmen and her team set their eyes next.

For a woman of color to be the first brand to ever bring the carmenere wine grape to our shores is an outstanding achievement but Carmen’s proudest achievement to date is to have her name alongside that of the iconic Tata Madiba as one of the winners of the prestigious Visionary Leadership Award.

Often when people do not have a vision they will get swallowed by new money, instead when Carmen’s awards came with a side tip of cash, the earnest entrepreneur injected the cash into her business by sourcing her own infrastructure.

“When we started the soup kitchen, we could only afford to provide 400-500 learners a cup of soup 3 times a week at 3 schools. Today, we are providing over 25000 learners from 125 schools in the Western Cape with a nutritious breakfast and lunch,” says Carmen of her NPO, emphasizing the lack of awareness of how little it takes to make a difference.

For just R560, Carmen and her team are able to feed disadvantaged children for the entire 200-day South African school calendar. “1% of our sales go into feeding children because I see my business as a give and take with consumers and this is just my way of giving back to them for their support,” says a sentimental Carmen who goes on to explain that she herself is no stranger to growing up hungry.

The team’s greatest dismay is borne out of the South African constitution’s stipulation about children being fed during school days. Naturally, this is critical considering how children struggle to concentrate in class to the point of sometimes even fainting from hunger.

However these children are left to starve during holidays and Carmen and her team have taken it upon themselves to give out food hampers, although they are unable to reach as many children as they would want to due to this being a rather costly exercise. Corporates and individuals who have the means are implored to reach out to Carmen Stevens Wines to support this life-changing initiative.

To book a wine tasting, consumers are welcome to contact Call: +27 87 265 8977

Email: info@thewinearc.co.za.