Ntsiki Biyela

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Biyela in traditional Zulu clothing

Nontsikelelo "Ntsiki" Biyela (* 1978 in KwaVuthela , today KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa ) is a South African winemaker and oenologist . In 2004, ten years after the end of apartheid , she became the first black woman in South Africa to become head winemaker of a winery in South Africa.

biography

Biyela in the wine cellar

Nontsikelelo, or Ntsiki Biyela for short, was born in 1978 in what is now the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal . Her mother worked as a domestic help in Durban and usually only saw her daughter once a year. Ntsiki Biyela grew up with her siblings with her grandmother Aslina in Mahlabathini, a Zulu- inhabited village in what is now the Zululand district .

After graduating from high school with Matric in 1996, Ntisiki Biyela actually wanted to study chemical engineering, but received a scholarship from the South African airline South African Airways in 1998 to study viticulture at Stellenbosch University , which she began in 1999. The lectures took place in Afrikaans , which she learned while studying with the help of tutors. She finally graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture in viticulture and oenology . After an internship at the Delheim winery, she started at the Stellekaya winery in Stellenbosch in 2004, where Ntsiki Biyela was the first black South African woman to get a job as a winemaker after a year .

Stellekaya Wines

Ntsiki Biyela at Stellekaya

Biyela's first red wine cuvée at Stellekaya won the gold medal at the South African Michelangelo Awards. In 2009, Ntsiki Biyela was named South Africa's Woman Winemaker of the Year , sponsored by Landbouweekblad magazine .

Aslina Wines

In 2016, Biyela decided to produce her own wines under the Aslina label, named after her grandmother. She received impulses from her collaboration with winemakers in California and Bordeaux . It produces pure Sauvignon Blanc , Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay and an assemblage in the Bordeaux style , the grapes of which it sources from various vineyards in Stellenbosch. The company is based in Somerset West .

Aslina wines have been exported to Europe, Asia and America since 2017.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mail & Guardian : Ntsiki Biyela. Winemaker . on www.200ysa.mg.co.za (English)
  2. ↑ Portrait at forbes.com from March 27, 2017 (English), accessed on April 19, 2017
  3. ↑ Ntsiki Biyela from Stellekaya wins South African woman winemaker of the year. wine.co.za from August 4, 2009, accessed April 19, 2017
  4. ↑ Aslina Wines website , accessed April 19, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Biyela, Ntsiki
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Biyela, Nontsikelelo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African winemaker and oenologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH KwaVuthela , South Africa