Every successful idea comes from humble beginnings, and innovation doesn’t always rely on an impressive track record. Chairo Africa (23) is a young upcoming winemaker with big dreams. He has just kicked off a new initiative called SwapWine, which seeks to build an online community united by a mutual interest fine wine.
Chairo Africa
Tell us more about yourself?
I studied viticulture and oenology at Elsenburg, where I graduated in 2021. My first harvest was at Kanonkop under Abrie Beeslaar. After that I did a harvest at Groot Constantia with Boela Gerber, a harvest in America, and another with Stark Condé, where Rüdger van Wyk was head winemaker. In 2023 I completed a harvest in Germany as an assistant winemaker for the season, after which I went to work at the Boplaas tasting room in George. I gained some great sales experience as sales assistant. I began this year as cellar assistant at Tokara Winery, and currently I’m back at Boplaas.
What was the idea behind SwapWine?
The idea came quite spontaneously. I love wine and sharing it with others, and I wanted to connect with an online community. But instead of buying and selling wine, I wanted to base it on the concept of swopping. For instance, if I have a case of 2018 Paul Sauer, I might be prepared to exchange a bottle for something else in order to build my collection. I want to bring those two parties together. If there’s someone else with a bottle they’re willing to swap out, we can come to an agreement. I want to be a middleman who helps facilitate the transaction.
What is the difference from a regular wine club?
Although we organise tasting events around certain themes in collaboration with sponsors such as Idiom Wines and Alto Wines, we’ll focus more on the community aspect of exchanging wines and knowledge to keep the wine culture alive.
How many people are involved?
It’s still very new and very much a one-man show, but I have already had good feedback from some well-known winemakers and influencers. My brother helps with video editing and presentations and my girlfriend helped with the designs. Our Instagram account is set up at @swap.wine and we’ll create a website once I’ve had feedback from more people and know what they expect.
We plan to introduce the concept at an inaugural event at Hygge Hygge in Stellenbosch. We’ll hand out pamphlets and explain the concept to get people interested. It will appeal to newer wine drinkers.
What would you like to achieve?
I want to draw in everyone from avid wine sommeliers to students who are just getting started and want to improve their wine knowledge. But I don’t want to be involved in the discussions or negotiations myself; I only want to facilitate the exchange and create the community. At the end of the day, people have to make the decisions about the value of the wines and acceptable trades among themselves.
Over the next year or two I’d like to have an active and engaged community with a focus on the social aspects. The wine and other advantages will flow from that. I’m currently looking for work closer to Stellenbosch, which we’ll use as a home base. The online platform will follow next, and I think an app will also make sense in the not-too-distant future.
