Wine Diva

Ntsiki Biyela had humble beginnings. She grew up under African skies in Zululand with stars in her eyes about going places beyond her home in a place called Mahlabathini. At first she and her grandmother thought she might become a land surveyor. Later in Matric, after excelling in science, all her fellow students in the 1996 school year were talking about engineering, and Ntsiki thought she may become a Chemical Engineer.

With dream of a bright future but no money for further studies, Ntsiki found work as a maid for her extended family in Durban and worked in this capacity for one year, while there was contemplation of her applying for chemical engineering through the technikon. Ntsiki was put in contact with a mentor who was recruiting students for the SAA bursary programme to study winemaking. Ntsiki had no idea what winemaking was all about and her family was nervous about her going far from home to study, but she grabbed at the chance with both hands to make something more herself and applied. “Failure was not an option for me,” she muses. Ntsiki’s application was successful and she received a full bursary from SAA to study and stay at the university in the quaint town of Stellenbosch.

At first Ntsiki struggled with the Afrikaans and felt homesick, but after finding a holiday job on the Delheim wine estate, things started to fall into place. The wine bug bit her and she started to learn more about winemaking, viticulture and cellaring on the job during her holidays. Ntsiki persevered with her BSC Oenology until completion and when she had graduated from university, she heard that Stellekaya was looking for a new winemaker. Upon starting at Stellekaya, Nicholas Adonis, the cellar supervisor helped her to understand the cellar operations and to communicate effectively with the cellar staff.

Stellekaya means home of the stars and where better for Ntsiki to shine. “Stelle is Latin for star and Kaya is iZulu or iXhosa for home,” Ntsiki explains to tour group for 25 German women. Poised and confident as she conducts the cellar tour communicating clearly and patiently while waiting for the translator to convey her messages to the group. The Stellekaya winery used to be an old brandy maturation cellar and has been completely renovated to accommodate the 10 000 cases of premium red wine produced ever year. Stellekaya is a specialist producer of only red wine and their grapes are sourced and selected from producers in the area. “We keep control and have regular meetings with our grape producers to ensure the quality that we want,” explains Ntsiki to the tourists. The Stellekaya winery is conveniently located close to the town centre in Stellenbosch. During harvest time a crane brings the berries up to the cellar, where the juice is extracted from the grapes using a wooden basket press. The punch down method and open fermentation are used for wine production. The wine is matured in French oak barriques for any period between 10 and 22 months depending on the style of wine being produced.

Ntsiki explains that she enjoys working with red varietals and particularly revels in making blends, “Blending the flavours and characters together so that they balance and enhance each other is like getting various different personalities together in one room and making them all get along.”

“All red wines are different and I enjoy seeing people’s reactions to them. I encourage people who are new to drinking red wine to start off with something lighter and fruiter such as the our Hercules or Boschetto and then take it from there. A person must learn to walk before they can run and the same applies to wine tasting and drinking, don’t start with the blockbusters if you are not used to red wine.”

“When people tell me that they don’t drink red wines then I have to ask for a reason. I don’t enjoy oysters but I have tried them at least to make sure.”

Ntsiki has travelled far and wide as a woman in wine. In 2005, she spent 2 months assisting with the harvest on a wine estate in Bordeaux, where Ntisiki was required to do a lot of physical work and she cleaned the tanks and did the pump-overs herself. “It was challenging but fun working experience”, she reminisces. In 2007, Ntsiki travelled to California to meet various winemakers and exchange ideas. She has also visited Holland, Germany, Sweden and London, but quickly adds, “when I need to feel grounded I go back home.”

Ntsiki wraps up her tour of the cellar by conducting a guided tasting for the tour group. She effortlessly pours the wine for 25 women herself and explains the makings behind each wine tasted. Ntsiki is calm and confident; she exchanges freely with people asking questions and takes it all in her stride.

Ntsiki explains that since Stellekaya is the home of the stars, the wines have been named and labelled according to constellations and heavenly bodies.

First, we tasted the Boschetto – a medium bodied fruity blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Sangiovese. The Boschetto has a lovely nose, is a ruby red colour and a fruity, earthy and Mediterranean style wine, which has been kept in French oak for 10 months.

Next we tasted the Hercules, a fruity blend of primarily Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a lighter style wine which can be enjoyed with tomato-based meals. The wine has a great balance of fruit and acidity.

Next the Shiraz, a full-bodied wine, deep red in colour, with lovely spicy yet very well balanced fruit flavours. It’s lighter and elegantly different from the typical Shiraz.

The Merlot is enjoyable and easy drinking. The wine is smooth with soft tannins and fruity nuances of plums, chocolate and blackcurrant.

The Cape Cross is a bold and fruity blend of Merlot, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Pinotage definitely comes through in the lingering aftertaste.

The hand made Stellekaya wines are as exceptional and unique as their lady winemaker. Ntsiki is sure to keep reaching for new stars, before bottling and labelling them as part of the Stellekaya range.

For more info about the Stellekaya range of wines, please visit their website www.stellekaya.co.za