In 2002 Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve combined their artistry and Mvemve Raats was born. We delve a little deeper to see how paths crossed and what inspired the creation of MR de Compostella.
Who is Bruwer Raats and how did he get into producing wines?
Bruwer grew up in the Eastern Cape and whilst doing a holiday job at a winery in Stellenbosch arranged by his brother who was a student at the University, he found his passion and the rest is history.
Bruwer Raats is a celebrated South African winemaker with the following achievements:
Platter’s Winery of the Year 2018
SA Winemaker of the Year 2023 Tim Atkin MW
SA Wine Personality of the Year 2024 EKOV (Old Students Bond Elsenberg)
Cape Winemakers Guild Member since 2017
Where did Mzokhona Mvemve grow up and what inspired him to get into wine making?
Mzo was born and bred in Umlazi. A local boy growing up in the township, he excelled academically and got a bursary to study Winemaking and Oenology at the University of Stellenbosch from SAA. Today Mzo is not only an accomplished winemaker and businessman, he also holds an MBA from UCT.
How did the paths of Mzokhona and Bruwer cross?
Mzokhona was an intern of Bruwer’s during his final year of study. During this time they became very good friends and one evening after a braai they discussed their mutually shared ambition of crafting an Ultra-Premium wine from South Africa of consistent quality and excellence en par with the very best First Growths and Super Tuscans of the world. Our goal; to create excellence and the vehicle is wine.
Mvemve Raats was formed producing a single wine. The first MR de Compostella 2004 wine was inspired by a constellation of stars merging together to create something spectacular.
“MR is a wine based on passion and friendship, a desire to be the best. A wine driven by quality and consistency.“
Mzokhona Mvemve
Let us know a bit more about the constellations of stars merging to create the spectacular?
MR de Compostella is a Cape Bordeaux Blend using all 5 of the classic Bordeaux varieties. The very best fruit is used chosen from the best sites, harvested and vinified separately and then aged for a year in French Oak. We then bring out the samples and taste it blind scoring each individual component. All wines under 90 points are eliminated and then the highest scoring component leads that year’s vintage, with the second highest second largest etc. This blend is then aged for another year and then tasted again by Bruwer and Mzo. Should the wine be not as good or better as previous vintages we declassify it. No other winery does this. Absolute dedication to produce the exceptional.
A wine lead purely by quality, MR de Compostella means compilation of stars as we use the very best components from our winery (our stars) to create a final blend that we are proud to showcase around the world.
How do you differentiate the de Compostella wine from others in the industry?
MR de Compostella has one of the most critically acclaimed success records out of any ultra-premium wine from South Africa. 21-Years of consistent excellence celebrated by wine critics and enthusiasts around the word, MR has broken many barriers for South African wine. Absolute dedication to quality through rigorous selection and elimination processes, MR is the only wine from SA that is declassified when the winemakers believe it is not good enough to wear the coveted MR badge, sacrificing their entire income, in their commitment to creating the extraordinary.
What are the future plans for MvemveRaats?
21-Years in the wine industry is not long, but for SA 21-years is a lifetime, as we only started competing properly on the international stage 30-years ago as a country when apartheid ended. As we celebrate our 21-years of Mvemve Raats we have launched a white Bordeaux Blend using the same rigorous process of selection and elimination as de Compostella.
MR Vesperi means evening star and leads the next chapter in our story. Crafted from the classical white Bordeaux varieties of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon we added a South African twist with the addition of our signature Chenin Blanc. (Raats Family Wines is a leading producer of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc in South Africa. With Bruwer Raats famously known as the Chenin King)
The maiden release of MR Vesperi 2023 will be available for sale from 19 May 2025. With only 1000 bottles produced this will sell out on allocation.
Visit their website www.raats.co.za to learn more.
“We don’t measure our success through a single vintage but rather through analyzing a decade of achieving consistent quality. The wine business is one where we think and plan in decades not years.“
We look forward to having Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve at the Cavern at the end of May.
Friday night – 30 May
Raats Original Chenin Blanc
Raats Old Vine Chenin Blanc
Raats Dolomite Cabernet Franc
Raats Jasper Red Blend
MR De Compostella 2022
Saturday night – 31 May
Bruwer Vintners Blanc de Noir
Bruwer Vintners Haarlem to Hope
Bruwer Vintners Red Blend
Bruwer Vintners liberty Pinotage