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 Singh made headlines news two years ago when he bought a majority stake in the premium, boutique winery Mullineux in Swartland , owned and run by the winemaker couple Chris and Andrea Mullinuex . The name was changed to Mullineux and Leeu Family Wines -Leeu means Lion in Afrikaans, so does Singh. In fact Leeu Family Estate is his holding company that partnered with Mullineux to name the new company.
In every wine there has to be some interesting story. In the case of Leeu (Singh) it was a phone call made by his daughter who had accompanied him on his first-ever visit to South Africa to watch the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2010. She was in Cape Town and he had no plans to visit because of his commitments. She called him from there and insisted he come because she was convinced that this was the kind of a place he was always looking for. It was love at first sight for him and rest as they say, is history-in the making!
He visited subsequently Cape Town and started investing into the Cape winelands, where he felt deep sense of belonging, of energy, a sense of place in Franschhoek Valley. He began his search for a property and knew he’d found the right place the minute he set foot on a 40-hectare farm on the slopes of the Dassenberg. He went on to purchase the two adjoining farms, Dieu Donné and Von Ortloff, to create Leeu Estates. In 2013, a stake was acquired in Mullineux completing his luxury hospitality offering.
Analjit Singh is the Founder Chairman of Max India Limited, with interests in life insurance (Max Life), health care (Max Healthcare), health insurance (Max Bupa) and senior living (Antara). Max India Group is renowned for service excellence and has successful joint ventures with some of the pre-eminent firms of the world, including Mitsui Sumitomo of Japan, Life Healthcare of South Africa and Bupa Plc of the United Kingdom. Earlier partners include New York Life Insurance Company, Hutchison Whampoa, Motorola and Lockheed Martin. A self-made enterprising billionaire, Leeu Analjit was awarded the title of ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the President of India in 2011.
With substantial involvement in South African wine, he will discuss the huge potential of investing in the Country and Western Cape. Welcoming international guests, Wines of South Africa’s CEO, Siobhan Thompson, will present an overview of this new era, covering the influencing factors that make South Africa a world class wine producer and highlighting, through the fast-moving dynamism of the industry, how much there is to discover in South African wine. Her presentation will explain South Africa’s positioning, which tells the story of the country, the people and the wines.
Cape Wine 2015 opens at 09.30 on Tuesday 15th September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre for 3 days. It is organised by WOSA every three years.
Subhash Arora |