The year House of BNG took over the shelves and the streets
Before you crack open the champers for Christmas or New Years, take a look at your bottle because if it ain't Bonang's House of BNG, you ain't drinking the official drink of 2019.
After months of teasing in vineyards, Bonang launched the Brut Methode Cap Classique (MCC) and a Brut Rose MCC range at a star-studded event in March.
“We have some of the world’s best grapes here in South Africa," enthused Bonang in a press statement, adding that the range is a "love letter to Africa".
The price tag, R399, soon became a hot topic on social media, with B's celeb friends defending the "pricey" drink.
It didn't stop the drink from apparently selling out at stockist Woolworths shortly after its launch.
Sis also caught some wind for an alleged "typo" on the label of the bottle.
Beady-eyed fans spotted that the word elegant was spelt wrong on the label and soon shared comments about it on social media.
As jokes about the mishap spread, Bonang's team told TshisaLIVE it was an error in printing that only affected a small batch.
"The bottle with the error was part of a smaller batch, a consignment of about 100 bottles, that were pushed out after a large amount of demand for the product. It has been rectified and all stores should have the correct spelling," Bonang's manager Davin Phillips said.
Since then the range has made appearances at some of the country's most prestigious events, including the presidential inauguration as the official bubbly supplier, Miss SA, Vodacom Durban July, the Forbes under 30 meet-up and Sun Met.
.....the African Eagle has landed!! 🦅 Welcome my baby, the @houseofbng to the 2019 Vodacom Durban July! 🥂🍾🇿🇦 #VDJ2019 pic.twitter.com/WZ9YbHn2Cp
— Bonang B* Matheba (@bonang_m) July 6, 2019
The #HouseofBNG - official celebration partner for the @forbesafrica @Under30MeetUp!! We can't wait to Link in with you🍾🥂🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/WJ5TzTcbiQ
— House of BNG (@houseofbng) June 12, 2019
It also made appearances in music videos, including in Prince Kaybee's Fetch Your Life.
The B Force and Bonang herself could not contain their excitement when they saw the House of BNG bottles on the visuals.
Dropping this Friday🔥🔥🔥#FetchYourLife Music Video@minnie_ntuli @ZolaZeelovin @bluembombo @Msaki_ZA @bonang_m pic.twitter.com/XUYfHlLlue
— #CrossOverMusic (@PrinceKaybee_SA) April 10, 2019
It also made an appearance on DJ Fresh's first day at 947 and on the US hit morning radio show The Breakfast Club.
And then, @bonang_m came through😭 Nothing like some @houseofbng to celebrate the start of @freshon947🍾 cc @DJFreshSA @MantsoePout @shannon_leibach @freshon947 pic.twitter.com/Een99zT4PO
— 947 loves you! (@947) August 1, 2019
B's business even got a feature on BBC News in September.
It was also popped at Somizi's wedding in September, with B giving her bestie 40 cases of champopo for his big day.
It was also there when Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was awarded the People’s Choice Sports Star award at the SA Sports Awards after winning the World Cup.
B shared on social media how "taken away" she was by Siya being snapped holding a bottle of the champopo in celebration.
"Dreams do come true! Siya Kolisi, The Springboks first black captain celebrated his award last night at the South African Sport’s Awards with the House of BNG. What a huge huge moment for me. I cried a little when I saw this image. It represents so much!"
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Bonang Matheba (@bonang_m) on