Wayne Luckett, founder of Branwar Wines, poses for a photograph inside his office on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Houston.In 1997, Wayne Luckett, then a Southwestern Bell engineer, moved his family to Johannesburg, South Africa, for a job assignment that lasted 5½ years and led to an appreciation, if not devotion, to the country’s fine wines. When he left, he returned to Houston with what he thought was a two-year supply of his favorite Bordeaux blends, Pinotages and Chenin Blancs.
That discussion led Luckett to the wine business, first as a broker to help bring the Gault’s “Passages” label to the United States and later as an importer and wholesale distributor. In 2010, Wayne and Warren Luckett launched Branwar — a combination of the names of Wayne Luckett’s two sons, Brandon and Warren.
“If you look at the exchange rate, it’s like 15 to 1,” Luckett says. “That’s the kind of bargain you get when you purchase the product and then you pass that savings onto the customer.”South African wines make up “well less than” 1 percent of all the wine sold in the United States, said Jon Moramarco, a wine analyst and managing partner of advisory firm bw166 in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Kevin Jackson, manager and sommelier of Davis Street at Hermann Park, has bought wines from Branwar since 2019 when the restaurant opened. He said the company is knowledgeable about their wines and offers competitive prices. In addition, while larger distributors require customers to buy a certain number of cases, Branwar will sell just one case if that’s what the customer needs.Wayne Luckett also provides an unmatched level of service, Jackson said — “available pretty much around the clock.