Merely 3 years after they brought us the Mzala Discover DVD series, the
duo/team of Keith Dudula and Leonard Arangies are at it again. After 15
episodes in which Mzala (an alias of Dudula) traveled to the Wine Lands to
discover the 'truth' behind the mysterious drink called wine, the two have
decided that the time is right to launch a label called Eezi Mzi.
We realized with our 'training DVD' that a very large part of our population
are still afraid to enter into the territory of wine, Dudula mused. We also
realized that to pour an complex, some times acidic, some times astringent, drink onto most
palates we'll destroy our changes of getting the beer and alcohol drinkers
to migrate into the territory of wine. We'll probably chase them away for
ever.
Arangies intervened by saying that it happens in almost every part of the
food chain. People will start by adding lots of milk and sugar to their
coffee and then gradually reduce the additions. Some might end up drinking
their coffee with very little or no sugar and some might end up enjoying
coffee black after starting off with so much milk. We are living in the Coca
Cola generation. Our drinks and foods are becoming increasingly sweeter. We
see wine as no different. The idea with Eezi Mzi is to attract the young and
novice wine drinker to a drink in a bottle. "The packaging is attractive, if
not revolutionary, with Dudula's frame filling almost the entire label",
Arangies said with a careful gaze in the direction of Mzala before he adds:
"If we can get more people to start with wine we might get 10% of them
migrating into more serious wines annually. Then we can start with a 100
more and before you know it everyone in South Africa will drink wine and we
won't have enough to export."
Keith added that this drink is exactly what it claims to be. It is easy and
soon it'll be a part of every house-hold in SA. It'll become like family;
like the favorite Mzi in the house.
The duo teamed with the very successful and famous Retief cousins from Robertson.
Together they 'designed' a drink that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. This
wine will give the drinker options.
The wine purists around the country might choke in a much wooded
Chardonnay when they hear this, but we want to encourage the consumer to add
ice, soda and even try a squeeze of lemon or orange to this wine. This will
not only stretch the product and therefore your buck, but you'll be able to
enjoy the bottle over a couple of hours at a party (or at home). It'll also
give you the opportunity to alter the drink until it suits your own unique
individual taste profile.
Every drinker can now have a favorite way to enjoy this versatile product.
And even on it's own we would like the consumer to chill the bottle. Yes,
even the Red Wine. It's down-right delicious! As the pay-off line
encourages: Simply Chill, and drink up! From here we are planing to do a
sparkling wine and soon we'll work at expanding the range all the way to a premium
selection, the Mzala Signature range. Watch this space!
For know the duo proclaims that everybody should relax about taking wine too
seriously. Forget about the tradition (We have joked a little on the label by
stating that Tradition starts today!) This is a young country with a young
democracy. Let's start by creating our own tradition from today on.
Have fun with this product and with other wine products as well. If we relax
about all the rules and side-shows, so prevalent in wine territory, we might
just get the country to start enjoying this wonderful product. For those who
would like to learn more there is still the training course of 15 episodes
with Mzala. I'm sure this team has many more tricks up their sleeves. For
now let's chill and drink up!
Eezi Mzi comes in Red, White and Pink. Ask your favourite wine shop to start
stocking it! The wines are available all around the country through Namaqua wines.
Keith Dudula lives in Melville and is a popular Wine Consultant at Norman
Goodfellas where he is learning about wine and the industry on a daily
basis. Try and catch him this year at the Soweto Wine Festival where he'll
be autographing the label of your bottle of Eezi Mzi.
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