NEWS FROM THE GRAPEVINE. Great Heart : A Wine that Empowers

Together with their employees, Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, known for their multi-award winning Leeu Passant and Mullineux wineries, has started a new staff empowerment project called Great Heart Wines – aimed at improving the livelihoods of those who work for the company as well as their families.

Conceived during the first South African lockdown last year, the wine brand is collectively owned by the winery staff, and a portion of all sales under this label will go directly to them.

The first wines will be available in the UK from Waitrose from 22 March 2021, retailing at £14.99, and the team is in discussion with a retail partner in South Africa selling at R120. The first two cuvees are the Great Heart Swartland Chenin Blanc and Great Heart Swartland Red blend with a Stellenbosch Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon to join the line up soon.

Founders Chris and Andrea Mullineux had been thinking how they could reward and uplift their dedicated and hardworking team. Lockdown galvanised this intent, and the idea of starting a wine brand that was collectively owned by their employees was born.

As Andrea Mullineux explains, “To thank our employees who have shown commitment, we have made those who have worked for our winery for 2 years shareholders of Great Heart Wines. They will directly benefit from the sales of Great Heart.”

“The pursuit of the greater good, especially in business, is not a given, but it’s one that rings louder and truer for us with each passing moment,” Chris Mullineux continues. “Great Heart is our way of addressing an array of important issues in our industry today. A heartfelt thank you to Waitrose for their belief and support for this very special project.”

The Great Heart wines are grown and produced in the Mullineux & Leeu vineyards and cellars, with the same attention to detail the team follows in everything they do, resulting in wines with a natural intensity, complexity and a true sense of place reflecting the characteristics of the region, as well as those who live and work here.

“This is a huge opportunity to better lives and livelihoods, especially in this time of crisis,” says Gynore Fredericks, Assistant Winemaker at Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, and Winemaker for Great Heart wines. “I am proud to be part of a project I can call my own.”

Businesses today have the power to transform the world. Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines is optimistic that Great Heart will go some way to changing the way consumers think, shift supply chains towards a better balance, and share a story and vision that will remind the world that by working together businesses can be a mechanism for equity, inclusivity and meaningful transformation.

LIQUID MEMORY

Great Heart Chenin Blanc 2020

Hardly suprisingly, this Chenin Blanc was absolutely delicious and the perfect pairing to a late Sunday roast chicken. Mind you, it doesn’t need food to express itself, it would also pair superbly with my own company and sunshine ;). Aromas of orchard fruits and orange blossom, green plums, cirtus skin and white peach, with nuances of wet slate. The fruit follows through onto the palate, accompanied by a generous mouthfeel and vivacious acidity. Its a wonderfully clean wine, that leaves you salivating and begging for another sip.

Great Heart Red Blend 2019

Apart from Chenin Blanc, the other variety the Mullineux’s specialise in is Syrah, which is the leading component in The Great Heart Red Blend. The Swartland Syrah profile is quite evident with the elegantly perfumed nose, showing notes of cassis, mulberry, black cherries and sauvory spice. There is earthy undertones which come through on the palate alongside lucious dark fruit. Supple tannins make the wine accessible enough for everyday drinking, yet the dash of Cabernet Sauvignon adds a finely tuned stature and will certainly impress all, especially at this price point.

For more information, please contact: Chris Mullineux / info@greatheartwines.com