‘All wines matter.’ Former rugby player’s brand is under fire over 'tone deaf' tweet

La Boucher Wines' now-deleted tweet.

• A new wine brand faced a storm on Twitter after it tweeted that "All Wines Matter" - an apparent reference to "All Lives Matter", the slogan used by those who oppose the Black Lives Matter movement.
• Black Lives Matter is the international human rights movement which campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people.
• The wine brand is promoted by a former rugby player, whose t-shirt brand called Patriot Apparel celebrates the apartheid defence force.
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A new wine brand owned by a former professional rugby player was forced to apologise after an outcry over a tweet that referenced Black Lives Matter, the international human rights movement which campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people.

“All wines matter,” La Boucher Wines tweeted, evidently referring to "All Lives Matter" a slogan used by critics of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The tweet sparked an outcry on social media:

The wine business deleted the tweet and issued an apology, which still did not sit well with many:

The South African wine industry has faced international criticism for the living and working conditions of farm workers, and in 2016, Danish supermarkets removed South African wines from their shelves after a documentary by Danish filmmaker Tom Heinemann revealed the plight of these workers.

The 36-year old Eddie "Kwagga" Boucher, who played rugby for Boland and the Griffons before retiring in 2012, is the face of La Boucher Wines in the Hemel & Aarde Valley near Hermanus. 

The company's Facebook page had been deleted by Sunday evening. 

Boucher's profile also describes him as an ambassador for Patriot Apparel, which has a range of t-shirts aimed at the Afrikaans and hunting community. Patriot celebrates "Weermag Woensdag" (Army Wednesday) and "Skiet Saterdag" (Shoot Saturday) on its social media accounts, with photos of the apartheid-era defence force. 

A social media post for Patriot Apparel

Business Insider SA did not receive a response from Boucher's businesses in time for publication.

A week ago, the CEO of the international fitness brand CrossFit, Greg Glassman,  was forced to resign after he tweeted "It's FLOYD-19" in response to the outcry over the death of George Floyd,  a black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over 8 minutes.

In response, South African CrossFit gyms in South Africa threatened to cut ties with the US brand.

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