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INTERMEZZO #1

Ntsiki Biyela
spelled (En-tee-kee Bee-ye-la), is South Africa’s first black female
winemaker, Already a legend. She is the first of this profession
in the country, who knows if not in the world, she was the first
featured on CNN and in Forbes and in BKWine Magazine and
in the Czech SOMMELIER Magazine etc.

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN

When Ntsiki was born in a Zulu village,
Fleetwood Mac‘s record Black Magic Wo-
man was a hit for ten years already, and Car-
los Santana‘s psychedelic version sounded
in clubs worldwide.
I came from the province of KwaZulu-Natal,
and I owe my grandmother everything. That
I was able to go to university, that I was accep-
ted there, that I received a scholarship, and that
I was able to complete it successfully is all due to
her. I didn’t know the language, and I didn’t know
the culture, which made the studying much
more difficult. I had no idea that wine existed!
I applied for a scholarship that said if you study
winemaking, we’ll pay for it. And I knew I wasn’t
going to go back home. It wasn’t just that there named after her beloved grandma, a self-
weren’t any Black women; there weren’t many -funded venture in Somerset West where
women in general. When I look back to when she makes award-winning Bordeaux blends,
I was a student, I was sent to a winemaking semi- Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs. The As-
nar, and saw only one other woman, it was really lina label depicts an African calabash drin-
scary. In my mind I thought, well, at least there’s king gourd filled with grapes, the image in
one other woman here, but it turned out she was homage to her native village.
working the registration desk! It freaked me out, I make wine that talks to me. I believe there are
I didn’t feel like I was supposed to be there, and people who are crazy like me and are going to
other students took notice asking daily “Why are enjoy the same things that I do; as people, we
you here?” are the same but different. I used to specialize
She started at Stellenbosch University in in red wines. But when I opened my own winery,
1999. In 2004 she started at Stellekaya Wi- I started working with whites as well. Now, I have
nes in 2004. At Stellekaya, Biyela quickly four wines that are remarkably diverse, but each
rose to the top of her nation’s wine industry, with a distinct house style. It’s about what excites
winning South Africa’s prestigious Miche- my palate. When I look at the Chardonnay that
langelo award for her inaugural red blend, I make, I generally blend the cold climate and
and Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009. warm climate fruit, because I like both charac-
Ten years later she launched Aslina Wines, ters and the combination is better than either
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