It's not all that often you come across booze with a strong social conscience. Bandesh Wine & Spirits is one such business, where you can shop drinks unlike any other that you’ve tried before (their range includes the world’s first Kurdish Gin and Kurdish Arak)—all the while knowing that you are supporting a worthy cause.
Farhad Bandesh, who is the inspiration behind Bandesh Wine & Spirits, was imprisoned for eight years for seeking asylum after fleeing Kurdistan. Despite his deep struggles, today Farhad is proud to be a part of an industry he loves; “it’s a dream come true," he tells us. Here, we speak to Farhad and Bandesh Wine & Spirits founder Jenell Quinsee about the incredible story and philosophy behind the brand.
Tell us about the origins of Bandesh Wine & Spirits. How did you get started?
Bandesh Wine & Spirits is inspired by Kurdish Farhad Bandesh, an incredible human rights activist, artist, and musician. We united over a mutual passion for spirits and wine, and have collaborated on activism, writing and producing songs, videos, and exhibitions since 2016. He was imprisoned by the Australian Government for nearly eight years on Manus Island and in Melbourne for seeking asylum.
It is a new business and offers an opportunity to share incredible unique products, Kurdish culture, and stories—and raise awareness about human rights and what it means to seek asylum. It is a space where Farhad can work in an industry that he is incredibly passionate about and talented in.
Farhad’s incredible journey of survival, with peaceful and dignified resistance against the absolute cruelty of Australia’s asylum seeker policies and treatment, drives our determination to see an end to cruelty against so many children, women, and men.
Awesome folk in the community contributed so much to this dream, their time and expertise, donated grapes, and a whole lot of love and support for which we are deeply appreciative.
It's clear that humanitarianism is a key value of the business. Can you discuss the philosophy behind Bandesh Wine & Spirits and some of the causes you support?
We believe everyone has the right to be safe, free, have a home, an education, an income, health care, and opportunities. These things need to be fought for—sadly. We support campaigns that fight for these basic human rights.
We are keenly aware of people still suffering today both in and out of detention centre prison camps and we are actively advocating for policy and legislative change. We often speak at awareness-raising events and encourage any action at all from anyone. It doesn’t matter what you do, everything counts. We do encourage lobbying the politicians as legislative change is imperative.
We are always respectfully aware that we are on Indigenous Country, on stolen land, and strongly support self-determination and Treaty.
Some of the wines and spirits that you have on offer are unlike any other. What makes your range so unique?
We have the first Kurdish Gin and Kurdish Arak ever made in the World so that is incredibly special!
Farhad’s family personally hand-pick, dry, and send the main botanical to us for this gin. It is deeply personal and has a beautiful way of connecting us with them. They haven’t seen each other for 10 years so that is really difficult. When we open the packaged botanical they have sent, the beautiful scent of family and home fills the space with warmth, homeland, family, and quite a bit of longing.
Farhad is an incredible artist and produced over 120 artworks whilst imprisoned in detention which have featured in many exhibitions. All Bandesh Wine & Spirits label artworks are personally created by him.
What are your personal favourites from your range of wine and spirits, and why?
The Kurdish Gin, because of the unique botanical flavour and the deep beautiful family and home connection. We are also quite partial to our Kurdish Arak and our Time to Fly Shiraz.
What has been the most fulfilling part of this journey so far?
The opportunity to raise awareness at some really great events people have been kind enough to invite us to, such as Space2be, Welcome Merchant, Black Spark Cultural Centre, and people in our community.
An incredible person we know, Sumi, held a cocktail party in Brunswick inviting community, activists, and politicians to come and hear stories from asylum seekers and people affected by the issue. There were many incredible speakers and the storytelling was profound. It was a great way to share directly and personally what many people have (and are still) going through with Australia’s cruel policies toward asylum seekers. Fantastic cocktails featuring our products were created and served with catering from a beautiful local family. It was personal and really connecting on such a lovely level.
Other friends, Steve and Fiona Grimes hosted a great dinner introducing us and our products to their local wine club and friends with Farhad sharing his incredible story. We really love and value these intimate and personal events that really resonate with people, and us. It has been great to meet people who really had no idea of the cruelty going on in their name and who now have a greater understanding and actively speak up and get involved in advocating for change.
What are your goals for the future of Bandesh Wine & Spirits?
We want to use the opportunity to raise awareness about seeking asylum and human rights and would like to continue to speak, share stories, and present at events to do this. We want to change policy and legislation and live in a community where leadership means humanity, kindness, respect, and dignity.
We would like the business to grow and our products to be featured in restaurants, bars, at events, and in bottle shops all over the country, especially the Kurdish Gin and Kurdish Arak! Maybe even a little cellar door down the track where we could also host exhibitions. We love art and music and think it is an awesome way to communicate. We want to share stories and connect with people on a real human level and of course, share our decadent products!
Farhad is on a bridging visa that expires every six months with many restrictions. He has been advised he will never settle in Australia (he arrived four days after the 19 July 2013 policy came into effect). For him and so many others, it is a life of uncertainty, limbo, and stress that offers no clarity or security for the future. We hope for this to change.
If you're keen to support Bandesh Wine & Spirits, peruse the collection here, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. And to discover more of Australia's incredible refugee-owned businesses, head on over to the Welcome Merchant website.
Image credit: Bandesh Wine & Spirits