A Cellar Pioneer

Winemaking stretches back

four centuries in South Africa, but the demographic has only truly shifted in the past decade or so. ‘The 20year-old me would be amazed and in awe,’ says Ntsiki Biyela who, in 2016, became South Africa’s first

black female winemaker and also established Aslina Wines, which she named after her grandmother. ‘Before studying oenology in Stellenbosch, I’d never

had wine,’ says Ntsiki. ‘Savour it? Absolutely not!

Even sipping didn’t feel good in my mouth, but I had

to.’ She went on to do harvests in Bordeaux and Tuscany. Ntsika hails from

KwaZulu-Natal and her branding echoes her Zulu heritage – the label features a calabash. ‘We’ve worked hard as black people to get recognition. We’re making award-winning wines now. Getting into the industry was the key to realising [how much] we were excluded, whether it was coming into the industry to do business or just to enjoy wine,’ she says. ‘I grew up under my grandmother’s guidance in Mahlabatini. In the beginning, my mom was worried because I deal with alcohol, but with time she

accepted it.

‘I named my company, Aslina, after my grandmother. I also named a wine after her: Umsasane is the isiZulu word for the acacia tree, and also my grandmother’s nickname. ‘When I talk to people about

wine, I use comparisons that can be associated with wine more easily. I remember making a Bordeaux blend at Stella Khaya, and hearing people say things like, “Oh, I’m picking up truffles”… When I tasted truffles, to me they smelled

like the calabash when it was filled with matured milk. That smell! So I associate wines with the things I grew

up with.’