KWV
Encyclopedia
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
makers from the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It was converted from its co-operative status into KWV Ltd on 2 December 2002. The name is Dutch for "Co-operative Winemakers' Society of South Africa Ltd" (The Afrikaans would be "Koöperatiewe Wynbouersvereniging van Suid-Afrika Bpk"). Prime Minister Jan Smuts
Jan Smuts
Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948...
was a strong supporter of the initiative and was responsible for getting it through Parliament
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
. Until the early 1990s, KWV controlled the majority of the wine business. After the end of apartheid in 1994, wine exports increased and surpluses disappeared. Today KWV is a large brandy
Brandy
Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
producer. For many decades, KWV products were exported in toto and could not be purchased locally in South Africa (with rare exceptions. For example, a batch of old fortified wine was released locally in the 1970s as a gesture to the public and was bought up within days). This situation changed in 2004, when the first generally-available brands were launched on the local market. In 2005, several of the remaining brands were launched on the local retail market. In 2004, KWV Limited entered into an agreement with Phetogo Investments, a black economic empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment is a programme launched by the South African government to redress the inequalities of Apartheid by giving previously disadvantaged groups economic opportunities previously not available to them...
consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
, whereby the latter would purchase 25.1% of KWV Limited shares. As of 2005, this has been the largest empowerment transaction in the South African wine industry. The KWV Headquarters and main production complex are situated in the Cape Winelands in Paarl
Paarl
Paarl is a town with 191,013 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its the third oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington...
.