Eskort’s Liberi wine partnership raises R2m for underprivileged children

The third collaboration between Eskort, Saronsberg Cellar and a leading South African artist has raised R2 million for vulnerable children.

Proceeds from the Liberi (Latin for children) wines – a limited edition 2021 Shiraz and a 2020 Chardonnay, with labels by Norman Catherine – were handed to the Beeld-Kinderfonds on Monday 9 September 2024.

The fund’s chief executive, Adrie van Staden, said the R2 million would be distributed to 20 child development projects and benefit more than 8,000 underprivileged children.

Eskort Chief Executive Arnold Prinsloo thanked Nick van Huysteen, the owner of Saronsberg wine estate, former Saronsberg cellarmaster Dewaldt Heyns, who was the Tulbagh estate’s winemaker for two decades until his departure last year, and Norman Catherine.

“Last year, Dewaldt was recognised in the Master Winemaker 100 Report as one of the world’s elite winemakers, and he was our enthusiastic partner for three editions of Liberi wines,” said Prinsloo.

“The Shiraz and Chardonnay carrying the Liberi label will be prized by collectors, especially the limited number of bottles that were signed by Dewaldt and Norman Catherine.

“We’re also grateful to Norman, who contributed several of his signature surrealist faces for the labels. The combination of fine art and fine wine is a match made in heaven and helped us to achieve an ambitious fundraising target for the Beeld-Kinderfonds.”

Van Staden thanked everyone involved in the Liberi project and said the fund was privileged to be its beneficiary. “South Africa has so many vulnerable children and this money will go a long way towards unlocking their potential,” she said.

The fund supports development projects offered by established welfare organisations which assist children who have experienced poverty, starvation, neglect and abuse.

The Shiraz Liberi was sold for R1,320 for a case of six bottles (R2,450 for signed bottles) and the Chardonnay for R850.

The first Liberi wine, a 2018 Bordeaux blend, featured six artworks by Sam Nhlengethwa and raised R800,000 for two children’s homes in Heidelberg, the small town in Gauteng where the artist was born and Eskort has a factory.

Claudette Schreuders contributed six lithographs for the second Liberi, a 2017 Pinotage Reserve, and the proceeds went to the Atterbury Trust for the education of young people and other cultural upliftment projects.