M'hudi Wines Stellenbosch

The story of M'hudi Wines begins far from any vineyard. In 2003, Malmsey Rangaka rallied her family to leave Johannesburg for the Cape Winelands and take on a challenge that no black South African family had attempted before: buying and running a wine farm. Malmsey and her husband Diale purchased a small, neglected property on Old Paarl Road in the Bottelary Hills of Stellenbosch, where guavas and grapes grew in tangled abundance. Neither had any experience in winemaking. They had conviction, family unity, and a willingness to learn.

The name M'hudi — derived from the Setswana word Mohudi, meaning 'harvester' — was inspired by Sol Plaatje's great African novel about a heroine who flees her war-torn home in search of a new beginning. It was a fitting name for a family building something from nothing on the decomposed granite soils of the Bottelary Hills.

Their neighbours at Villiera Wines, the Grier family, welcomed the Rangakas with open arms. Prize-winning winemaker Jeff Grier passed on his knowledge, and the family absorbed everything. Their son Tseliso, who left behind a career as an advertising copywriter, became the farm's winemaker. In November 2005, the M'hudi wine brand was born — South Africa's first wholly black-owned wine tourism farm.

The premium Boutique Family range is the heart of the operation: a barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, and Foro's Legacy — a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot named in honour of the family patriarch. All are aged for twelve months in oak barrels, producing wines of genuine depth and character from estate vineyards in the Bottelary Hills.

M'hudi won the 2010 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has earned double gold at international competitions. The tasting room is open Tuesday to Saturday, and visitors are welcomed with the warmth and hospitality that define the Rangaka family's approach to everything they do. There is no pretension here — just a family that bet everything on a dream in 2003 and built one of South Africa's most important wine stories.