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Attention, Oenophiles
THE CUFFES: A new career importing “fantastic” African wines from black-owned vineyards.
Photo by Asia Kepka
In 2005, while on a trip in South Africa, Selena Cuffe (MBA ’03) saw an ad for the Soweto Wine Festival. “I was used to seeing negative African images,” Cuffe told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (October 1, 2008). “Soweto meant apartheid, but the wine festival was completely different and positive.” In talking with vintners there, she found that some had been making wine for generations but had never had full-fledged business opportunities until apartheid collapsed. Their stories fascinated her, and “the wines tasted fantastic,” Cuffe said. “A light went off in my head.”
Not long after, Cuffe and her husband, Khary Cuffe (MBA ’07), founded Heritage Link Brands (www.heritagelinkbrands.com), dedicated to importing the finest wines from the handful of South Africa’s 570 wineries that are owned by blacks. One recommended label is Seven Sisters Bukettraube Odelia, selling for about $13 a bottle, of which one critic noted: “The obscure Bukettraube grapes provide peach and floral aromas opening to peach and apricot flavors with a touch of lime. Fine acidity deftly balances an off-dry finish. Try it either as a refreshing aperitif or with baked flounder with a fruit sauce. Highly recommended.” Heady stuff indeed, especially for someone like Cuffe who “never in a million years imagined a professional wine career.”
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