Cape Town-based Nice Beverage Company launches UNFLTRD canned wines with two distinct, and refreshing flavours : Skin Dry White is a blend of chenin and semillon with a unique caramelised flavour, and the Dry Rosé has classic berry flavours up front and a lifted hint of candy floss in the finish.
A black-owned, sustainability-focused enterprise, Nice Beverage Co.’s UNFLTRD brand enters the market at a time when canned wines are subverting snooty attitudes, as they surge in popularity worldwide.
Premium appearance adds to the appeal of canned wines, which bodes well for Nice Beverages Co.’s aim to celebrate culture through blending diverse experiences while changing the narrative around what it means to ‘get a taste of Africa’.
Says one of the company’s founders, entrepreneur Hardy McQueen: “Alongside the South African launch in December, we’re excited about reaching broader markets in the US, and across the African continent. This is really exciting for us, as a business and as a brand as we’re super focused on change – our approach to wine-making, our into-market delivery and our target market.”
Working with a variety of winemakers, Nice Beverage Co aims to empower winemakers of colour, in particular.
“Our criteria for the winemakers we work with is, number one, that they are fully immersed in the low intervention natural wine, natural fermentation scene,” continues Hardy. “That’s the first point. And then as well as, as a business, we also want to be able to work with and collaborate with a diverse group of people.”
Speaking of the winemakers they currently work with, McQueen says: “They all have their own independent brands, but working on a canned delivery gives them an opportunity to do something different. And also something which we would consider a lot more fun and not as serious as a bottle of wine that’s been aged for 12 to 18 months in oak.”
Nice also works with a network of advisors – leaders in wine-making, branding and global distribution. One such advisor is Thurman Wise. Based out of Australia, Thurman has years of experience in launching new and established alcohol labels into new markets.
“It ticks so many boxes in such a genuine way that the potential is endless. There’s a perfect collaboration between amazing quality and soul and heart.”
