Ntsiki Biyela has taken the wine industry by storm, becoming South Africa’s first black African winemaker.
It was no easy task, but in the face of adversity, Ntsiki turned lemons into lemonade, or in this case, grapes into wine.
Although an award-winning winemaker now, it wasn’t her childhood dream. ‘I always wanted to become a chemical engineer, but my application was rejected. Then I got a job as a domestic worker for a year. During that time, I was recruited to study winemaking at Stellenbosch University on a scholarship basis offered by South African Airways.’
Ntsiki graduated with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture in 2003, and joined Stellekaya Wines as a winemaker a year later. She also started thinking about setting up her own enterprise. Soon, what began as an idea developed into a fully operational company – Aslina Wines, named after her grandmother.
‘I started the company in 2016 after a collaboration with Californian winemaker Helen Keplinger. The project that assisted me to do a collaboration was established by the USA wine importer Mika Bulmash from Wine for the World, whose goal was to support emerging winemakers through partnerships with US winemakers.’
After the launch of her wine company, Ntsiki resigned from Stellekaya and dedicated herself solely to her venture.
Ntsiki doesn’t have her own wine farm yet, but she doesn’t let that stop her.
‘We don’t have our own farm yet, so we buy in grapes and rent a cellar space for production in Stellenbosch,’ she explains.
So far, there are five wines in the range: a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Umsasane, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
Ntsiki is now helping to shape the minds of South African novice winemakers.
‘We are involved with an academy [Pinotage Youth Development Academy] that offers training to young people, so that they understand the value chain of the wine industry. We also organise job placements within the industry. One of our goals is to train more people who come into the industry, already having a deep understanding of wines, whilst diversifying the industry through our enrolment criteria.’
‘I enjoy working with students. I get even more excited when I see them confidently going abroad to be representatives of the SA wine industry. I see a younger version of myself in them.’
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Pictures: Supplied
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