Mandela attracts investment from Bahamas in SA wine farm

Ray Smuts
YOU NAME it and they have either invested in or are actually making wine at the Cape - France, Russia, United States, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Mauritius, Russia, even Rwanda - but now comes a new contender from the most unexpected quarters, The Bahamas.
And South Africa has none other than Madiba to thank for this new investment for it was Nelson Mandela himself who persuaded Alphonso Bowe to put his money in the Cape rather than Chile, the original plan.
Now Bowe and his American friend and business partner Andrew Hilliard are partners with Jannie and Lukas Joubert in the historical wine farm Bowe Joubert at Stellenbosch, where wine is being sold under its own label for the first time this year although wine-making has been tradition there for 100 years.
Bowe and Mandela met early one morning in the men's toilet at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport when the elder statesman turned to the Bahamian for assistance, not having the necessary toilet requisites with him. At a subsequent meeting Mandela persuaded Bowe to shelve the plan to buy a wine farm in Chile.
As most of the wine is intended for export to North America, Bowe and Hilliard have insisted that the product be made in the California style so as to appeal to palates in that part of the world. Californian wine consultant Jason Fischer of the Constantino Cellar in the Napa Valley has been assisting in the process.