Lock, stock and wine barrel: Female winemakers in SA

It’s Women’s Month in South Africa and the wine industry is also celebrating.

Here are some of the phenomenal women making waves with wine and growing the industry.

Lizelle Gerber and Andiswa Mapheleba

Lizelle Gerber.

Winemaker Gerber joined Nederburg Wines in Paarl as its new cellarmaster on August 1. She started her winemaking career in 1996 at Zevenwacht, but it was her tenure at Avontuur in the early 2000s that cemented her love for the vine.

In her new role, Gerber will oversee the production of Nederburg’s extensively awarded wine portfolio, and serve as mentor to young winemaking protégé for Pongrácz, Mapheleba, to fast-track her development as a specialist MCC winemaker.

Izele van Blerk

Izele van Blerk.

Apart from raking in the awards, KWV’s Van Blerk also recently released The Mentors Carménère 2017. It’s a once-off, limited edition range of less than 1 000 litres, and sequentially numbered bottles.

It took three years of trial and error before the single variety Carménère satisfied the range’s stringent standards. Now, it proudly represents the ethos of The Mentors special clan as a wine that is as exceptional as it is intensely curious and thought-provoking.

All this thanks to Van Blerk’s expertise in producing some of the world’s best wine.

Nadia Barnard

Nadia Barnard.

Renowned biodynamic winery Waterkloof has released the latest vintage of its eagerly-awaited Circle of Life white blend.

Showcasing both the gentle hand applied in the winery and a life-affirming approach in the vineyards, the 2016 Circle of Life white is thanks to dynamic young winemaker Barnard, who expertly blended 67% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Chenin Blanc and 4% Semillon.

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