Ntsiki Biyela – The First Female South African Winemaker

July 10, 2021
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Isaac Olawole Joseph

Ntsiki Biyela is a force to be reckoned with in the world of winemaking. Biyela comes from a small village called Mahlabatini in rural KwaZulu-Natal in Zululand. In 1996, she graduated from high school and got a job as a domestic worker which she did for a year.

After several attempts to secure grant applications to study at the university, Biyela finally got the opportunity to study Viticulture and Oenology at the prestigious Stellenbosch University. This opportunity was sponsored by South African Airways in 1998. At that time, the airways were giving out a number of wine making scholarships. This enabled her to complete her tertiary studies on a full scholarship. In 2003, she graduated with a bachelor of science in Agriculture.

The Journey into Winemaking

Prior to Biyela going off to the university, she had never tasted wine, but later fell in love with what she describes as “the ever-changing content of wine.” At that time, Biyela received lectures in Afrikaans, which she could not speak, so she had to take majority of the winemaking content through English notes. In sarcastic remarks, other students queried her why she’d wanted to study there, which according to Biyela had the underlying meaning “you’re not welcome.” Later on, she was also able to get a part-time job at local winery Delheim.

Upon graduation from Stellenbosch University, Biyela got a job as winemaker for Stellekaya Wines in 2004, which made her the first female winemaker in South Africa. Interestingly, her first red wine won a gold medal at the Michelangelo awards. Biyela was named as South Africa’s Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009. She later announced her plan to leave Stellekaya and start her own brand of wine later in 2016.

Biyela believed South Africans, who weren’t fancied by White South African winemakers because they are assumed not to be traditional wine drinkers, as a ‘huge untapped potential consumer base.’ “The flavor references commonly used to describe wine are often unfamiliar flavors to those “not well-versed in European winespeak”. Biyela describes her wines using familiar flavors, such as describing a wine as having an aroma similar to amasi, a local fermented milk product, rather than calling its aroma similar to truffles.”

Recognitions

Biyela is a board member of Pinotage Youth Development Academy, which provides training for youth in the Cape Winelands region to prepare them to enter the industry. The academy trains unemployed 18-to 25-year-olds for careers in wine and tourism. Apart from the technical skills learnt in the academy, they also learn life skills so that they can fashion out where they fit in the world and learn to also handle difficult life situations.

Her Brand, Aslina

Fast forward to 2020, it’s exciting to learn that Ntsiki now runs her own company called Alsina Wines. Named after her late grandmother, Aslina, who she draws inspiration from as she gave her all the life lessons and guidance she needed to become the woman that she is today. Her brand, Aslina, has also won awards, and the hearts of people globally for what the brand stands for.

Legacies

Ntsiki is passionate about making wine accessible to everyone and believes that winemaking is centred around memories, both old and new ones. She is also passionate about passing on her skills to those who have never had access to this world. She always looks to uplift and provide technical training.

As an inspirational woman, her wines have won several awards and she distributes them to countries such as Taiwan, Netherlands, America, Germany and Ghana. She has definitely made a mark in South Africa, especially knowing that it is a country already known for making groundbreaking and exciting wines.

The wines which Ntsiki produces are a range of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Umsasane and a Bordeaux blend which echoed her 2014 collaboration with Helen Keplinger, a California winemaker , which was created for Mika Bulmash’s Wine for the World program. All of these have been created with love and great passion.

Ntsiki Biyela is an inspiration to women across the world and as the first female winemaker in South Africa, she has been featured on the likes of Forbes, CNN and other reputable media platforms. There are about less than 10 professional winemakers in South Africa currently and so this makes her a legend in her own right.

Awards & Nominations:

Biyela was crowned Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009.

For another two successive years, she was voted The Most Influential Women in Business and Government.

She was named in the Top 20 Most Innovative Women in Food and Drinks by Fortune magazine in 2017.

Biyela has also been listed as one of the top 15 Women in Wine to Watch by Food & Wine magazine in the USA.

She received gold medals from the Michelangelo Wine and Spirits Awards for her 2016 and 2017 vintages, as well as gold from the Sakura Awards in Japan for two consecutive years for different vintages.