Sitting alongside the founding partners, and present from the earliest days, is a second circle: The Motley Crew.
They are not shareholders. They are close, wine-loving friends of the founders who are, in their own words, “fortunately able to enjoy in the dividends.” For the Crew, those dividends are not on a balance sheet. They are an open invitation to the Company’s tastings, called at the shareholders’ discretion, purely to get everyone together, celebrate living in South Africa, and enjoy a glass of something spectacular.
They were tasting, arguing and celebrating around the table long before Maze had a label. Vic calls them, with real affection, the brand’s beloved “lab-rats”: the honest, unfiltered consumer palate that keeps the winemaking grounded in what people actually enjoy drinking.
The Motley Crew
Showing up, having good taste, and being a genuine friend is its own kind of contribution. Often it is the kind that keeps a venture honest. The Motley Crew are the friends the wine was always meant to be shared with, long before it was ever meant to be sold.