If you like wine and making a difference, you’ve likely already heard of North Canterbury wine, 27seconds.
Not only is it seriously good wine, but 100% of its profits go towards ending slavery and helping the survivors of slavery. Even the wine’s name has meaning: Unicef estimates 1.2 million children are sold into slavery every year. When you break that statistic down it works out to be one every 27 seconds.
27seconds launched in North Canterbury in November 2017 when Pete and Alanna Chapman decided to combine their talents as a winemaker and an NGO marketer to create a vehicle for change. And wanting to create change remains at the core of what this social enterprise is all about. Every time you buy their wine, you are part of their solution.
All profits go to 27seconds’ giving partner, Hagar, which provides trauma care, education, and economic empowerment to survivors of slavery. What started out as a one-off fundraiser escalated into a social enterprise. “We love the idea of applying what we do to help improve other lives,” says Alanna.
And of course – with grapes and skills coming from award-winning North Canterbury wineries Terrace Edge and Greystone – the wine is delicious. If you enjoy sweeter style wines, we promise you’ll love their Riesling; it received a 5-star rating from Sam Kim (a senior New Zealand wine judge). The perfectly balanced rosé is another crowd-pleaser, bursting with strawberries, cream and spice characters thanks to the Syrah grapes.
How about that for a guilt-free drop that gives back?
Q&A with Pete and Alanna Chapman
Why North Canterbury? It’s where our family vineyard, Terrace Edge is located. Even if we didn’t have the family vineyard in North Canterbury, we’d choose up this way! The community, the beauty, the mountains and the growing conditions make brilliant wine.
What’s your favourite thing to do in North Canterbury? A drive in the country, stopping to explore the rivers, swimming holes and beaches. With some brown paper packages from The Paris Bakery.
Name your top three North Canterbury brands (other than your own!): The Norwester Café, Greystone and Terrace Edge. These three brands have been really generous in helping our brand: Greystone makes our wine at a discount so we can give more to the cause. Terrace Edge (aka. Mum and Dad) – without them, we couldn’t have done it. And the Norwester Café has provided coffee and the best buttermilk date scones for our picking day morning tea.
