Homegrown
WINE FROM BEYOND THE VINE Forget your grape expectations, it’s time to welcome Ghanaian wines made from cashews, cocoa and coffee. Accra’s Sai Wine Café has branded its own quartet of homegrown wines that are competing for its customers’ attention with its range of premium imports from Europe’s and South Africa’s wine-growing heartlands
S
ai Wine and
a heavy, aggressive finish
Champagne Cafe has
with earthy notes. Finally,
done much to spread
Lom Nava, which in Ewe
the love and appreciation
means ‘If you love me,
of the grape in all its varie-
come’, is a rich coffee wine.
ties among Accra residents
“At Sai Wine Café we
with its regular wine-tasting
take pride in being a wholly
sessions and its range of
owned Ghanaian company
fine imported wines from
and showing patronage
old and new world wine
for all things Ghanaian.
producing companies.
As much as we can we
But the wine café – the
take advantage of local
first of its kind in Ghana
produce. So, when we
– has even been turning
came across the producer
its customers on to wine
of Made in Ghana wine
beyond the vine. Its chief executive officer Nadia
it was a no brainer for us. We partnered with
Takyiwaa-Mensah has partnered with the Volta
them and created our own brand, called ‘Volta’.
Winery – which works from its headquarters in
Our customers are super proud and super
Ho, in the Volta Region, not with grapes, but the
excited about the wines. They want to be part
far more domestically plentiful cashews, cocoa
of what is Made in Ghana. We presently sell all
and coffee beans – to release its own Made in
four varietals and look forward to working with
Ghana range of wines.
the producer in expanding on the range over
Showing support
the coming years.” Showing support for her fellow Ghanaian
There are four wines currently in the range and
entrepreneurs has been a trait of Takyiwaa-
Takyiwaa-Mensah talks me through the “unique
Mensah since she returned to her homeland
taste” of each. “Dusk til’ Dawn is a cocoa white
from the UK to raise her son and set up what is
wine and tastes like a beautiful, medium bodied
now a pan-African brand management agency,
sauvignon blanc. Hibiscus Blush is cocoa white
Sixth Sense Manifesto. The media communica-
made red with hibiscus flowers therefore you
tions graduate had built a successful interna-
get these subtle exotic floral notes along with
tional marketing career, but returning to Ghana
a tangy citrus finish. Audacity is our cashew
meant starting again. The lessons learnt on that
white and, as the name suggests, is a very bold
journey were chronicled in her 2019 published
wine. It’s initially easy on the palate but it has
book, ‘How to Get Ahead in Ghana’, a 10-step
MADE IN GHANA Wine made with local produce
FLYafrica
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