This mentorship scheme has the goal of effecting transformation in the wine industry.
Mahalia will be under the guidance of celebrated winemaker Louis Strydom, at Ernie Els Wines.
She developed her love for wine-making when she was at Hill High School.
“I was given a biology assignment on biotechnology and I decided on a wine-making project,” she said.
She then bought table grapes and tried to make her own wine, but it didn’t work.
Two years after matriculating, she attended the Elsenburg Agricultural College to study oenology and her dream came true when she applied and was accepted for the protégé programme.
Mahalila said she did not know much about wine prior to studying in Cape Town.
“I just enrolled for oenology hoping I would like it and as a city girl I did not even know that wine was associated with farming,” she said.
Once at the college, wine tasting became compulsory in some of her modules and that’s where she started having an appreciation for wine.
She prefers red wine and her favourite is Bordeaux style red blend wine.
Mahalia said she felt great about her achievement and that she is looking forward to learning a lot about wine-making.
“I dream of becoming one of South Africa’s leading female winemakers,” she added.
She knows that wine-making is the perfect fit for her, as she understands the importance of dedication, determination and hard work.
This year’s intake of four new protégés brings to 17 the total number of interns who have participated in the programme since its inception, in 2006, with no fewer than nine graduates currently working in the wine industry.
Under the mentorship of members of the guild and the patronage of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust, oenology and viticulture protégés are cultivated, nurtured and empowered to become masters of their craft, while enjoying the rare opportunity of working side by side with leaders in the industry.
