We are extremely proud of this year’s festival. It is very reassuring to see the sales figures of the wine shop. The Stellenbosch brand is synonymous with quality, and sells well, even in these hard times. We were blessed with wonderful sunny days, and saw a lot of families attending on Sunday in particular. It is also encouraging to see the influx of international tourists, mostly from the USA, Netherlands and Germany. This means that our surrounding guest houses and restaurants were busy, in our quiet winter months.

The shuttle services introduced as part of the festival’s responsible drinking policy were well utilised from Cape Town, especially by foreign visitors. Shuttles in the central Stellenbosch area were running for the full four days, and the Buddy Bus on Saturday ensured that students got home safely.

The Festival’s responsible waste management policy to minimise its carbon footprint, resulted in the recycling of over 9 000 wine bottles this year. Practically every scrap of waste was collected for recycling or for turning into compost with the help of the recycling company, Let’s Talk Rubbish.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of service. This is usually the first impression a visitor has of a winery, and unfortunately you only have once chance to get it right. We have to look at continual improvement in this regard and we must build a standard of service at Stellenbosch to which every other region aspires.

Ntsiki Biyela form Stellekaya in Stellenbosch was crowned SA Woman Winemaker of the Year in Somerset West at the Lord Charles Hotel on Thursday 30th of July. Ntsiki beat 64 wine entries, from 28 woman winemakers across South Africa in this year’s competition, which is sponsored by Landbouweekblad, the country’s leading agriculture and agri-business publication. The competition took place for the sixth time this year.

Nontsikelelo, or Ntsiki as she is fondly known, was born and raised in Kwa-Zulu Natal. She matriculated from Mahlabathini High School in 1996 where she excelled in science. She had high hopes to study engineering, but had no money to study full time. Not detoured and determined to save money to pay for her studies, she started off working as a domestic worker. Coincidently her uncle introduced her to winemaker Jabulani Ntshangase, and he assisted Ntsiki to apply for a SAA scholarship, and she was chosen as one of ten black students to pursue a bursary program to study winemaking at Stellenbosch. In 2003 Ntsiki graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, specialising in Viticulture and Oenology, at the University of Stellenbosch. Ntsiki started working at Stellekaya in 2004, and also boasts a vintage in Bordeaux, as well as extensive travels abroad for wine promotions. She is fluent in Zulu, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa, and is determined to spread the magic of wine enjoyment across cultures and language barriers.

Ntsiki wowed the judges with her 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. When asked when she knew winemaking was her career of choice, she said: “I grew up in Zululand, so wine was not exactly part of my culture. Studying at Stellenbosch, and being exposed to wine regularly, I could not help falling in love with wine and the winemaking process. It all started to make sense to me when I did some practical work, including tastings at Delheim. I then just knew that I was hooked. Although a technical career, winemaking has an artistic side. I could never become bored of it, every vintage is different.”

Besides making the wine at Stellekaya, Ntsiki is also responsible for selecting individual vineyards and growers in Stellenbosch and ensures that each grower crops and hand picks the grapes to her exact standards. “Being involved from the beginning, and selecting the perfect grapes for a particular wine, deciding on oak treatment, and all the other elements to ensure we create a product worthy of the Stellekaya brand, forces me to think of every wine that I make as one of my children and it is my job to raise and guide that child, before I can let it go out to conquer the world. As one of the first black woman winemakers in South Africa, I want to be remembered for my wines and not me as a person, but I do not mind being a role model for other people. I want to communicate that with hard work and determination you can achieve anything.”

According to Marilyn Cooper, head of the Cape Wine Academy and president of the judging panel, Ntsiki sparkled. "Not only did she impress us with her well made Cabernet Sauvignon, but she is confident and passionate about the wine industry, eager to share her knowledge and passion with others. She’s not only an inspiration for future woman winemakers, but anyone who is considering winemaking as a career."

Congratulations to Ntsiki – we are extremely proud of you!

Hot news off the press is that there are 13 Stellenbosch five-star wines in the 2010 edition of the Platter Wine Guide. The red wine of the year is the Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005 – well done to Etienne and his team!

The other 12 five star wines from Stellenbosch are : • Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc Unfiltered 2009 • Vergelegen White 2008 • Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Grenache 2007 • Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage 2007 • Spier Frans K Smit 2005 • Haskell Vineyards Pillars Shiraz 2007 • Rustenberg Stellenbosch Syrah 2007 • Saxenburg Shiraz Select Limited Release 2005 • De Trafford Perspective 2006 • Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2006 • Morgenster Estate Morgenster 2006 • Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2008 Well done to our members, may you be overwhelmed with orders and visitors to your doors! For more info, visit www.platteronline.com!