Meet Nelson Mandela: global citizen, revolutionary, Nobel laureate and…winemaker.

Yes, the father of modern-day South Africa has added the latter to his long list of skills and accomplishments – in a sense. With his blessing, his daughter and eldest surviving child Makaziwe (or Maki, for short) and granddaughter Tukwini recently launched the House of Mandela label – an attempt to introduce South Africa wine to a broader international audience, including the all-important market of the United States.

Maki admits she was initially skeptical when the family proposed the idea back in 2005. "Why wine?" she recalls asking at the time. But then she quickly learned the answer: Wine is not only a vital part of South Africa's economy – South Africa is the eighth largest wine producer in the world and its wine industry employs more than 400,000 people – it's also a product that speaks to the Mandela family's history and rural/agricultural roots and its sense of passion and pride.

"Wine is about tradition, culture and customs," says Maki, "and we at the House of Mandela are steeped in those things."

The family doesn't own any actual vineyards. Instead, the winery takes something of a cooperative approach, meaning it buys product from a variety of top South African family-owned wineries, so long as those wineries adhere to practices – such as embracing sustainability and affirmative action – that are key to the Mandelas. But the final product is very much a "Mandela" wine, explains Maki.