Plenty of sophisticated travelers and epicureans are fully aware that South Africa is gaining in reputation as a wine destination. At Africa.com we’re celebrating South African wines imported by Heritage Link Brands, LLC, the preeminent importer of indigenous African wine. Today we’re offering 68 percent off a special case of Heritage Link Brands wines through our sister site, Africa.comDEALS.

Heritage Link Brands’ award-winning portfolio has been honored industry-wide, boasting medals from the London International Wine Challenge, Decanter Magazine World Wine Awards, and the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition

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There’s a back story behind this company that we love just as much as the wine itself. Founded in 2005 by husband-and-wife team Khary and Selena Cuffe, Mrs. Cuffe first came upon the idea of Heritage Link Brands after visiting the inaugural Soweto Wine Festival in South Africa. There, she learned that black winemakers were underrepresented, in land ownership, management, and in marketing efforts by local and global industry leaders.

Having formerly worked for such corporations as United Airlines and Procter & Gamble, Mrs. Cuffe, with her husband, set out to start shining a brighter spotlight on black-owned wineries. Included within their portfolio are M’hudi, owned by the Rangaka family and a winner of the 2010 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Seven Sisters, owned by a family of seven sisters. Both wineries have vineyards located in Stellenbosch, South Africa’s most celebrated winelands. By showcasing these brands in particular, an emphasis has been placed on family-owned wine production, a slowly waning trend that’s being outsized by mass-producers from America and elsewhere. Heritage Link Brands also proudly imports One World, fair-trade certified wines produced by the Koopmanskloof winery.

Recent articles in newspapers like the New York Times have featured the quality wines of the Cape, and organizations like the International Society of Africans in Wine help to establish an ever-growing sense of community among winemakers, regardless of color. Celebrating brands represented by Heritage Link Brands means that, as lovers of wine ourselves, we’re supporting an industry and a community that is on the road to greatness. Through our partnership with Heritage Link Brands on Africa.comDEALS we are also supporting the great work of the International Society of Africans in Wine. A portion of proceeds will be donated to ISAW to support their work in South Africa and across the continent. Heritage Link Brands is helping to “link” the roots of winemaking back to families and communities in South Africa. To stay in the loop on wine trends and more, check out Heritage Link Brands on Facebook or Twitter.