Wonderful women winemakers

Wednesday, 1 August, 2012
Carla van der Merwe
In celebration of Women's Month, we visited nine great female winemakers, viticulturists, and businesswomen at seven different wine estates.

This month we celebrate women of the winelands. We travelled along the wine route to visit nine great female winemakers, viticulturists and businesswomen at seven different wine estates. Not only are these ladies good at their jobs but they're wonderful people too.

Dornier

Jeanine Faure has always had winemaking in her genes. With a long line of wine industry professionals in her family tree, it is no wonder that Jeanine ended up at Dornier. Jeanine has been the head winemaker at Dornier since March and is extremely proud of her new appointment.

Amani

Carmen Stevens is an experienced winemaker with several local and international wineries under her belt along with her own wine label. On top of being a dedicated mother to two beautiful girls, Carmen is also an unbelievable winemaker. Carmen has been head winemaker at Amani since 2005 and has achieved numerous awards and accolades. To see Carmen's thoughts on the Amani Jordan Myers 2009 please click here.

Rudera

Riana Hall is the co-founder of Rudera (established in 1999) and is responsible for managing the business and assisting with marketing and exports. Please click here to watch the video of Riana chatting about the Rudera Syrah 2010, a wine that is both spicy and fruit forward with notes of black berries and leather.

Uitkyk

Estelle Lourens has been head winemaker at Uitkyk since October 2000 and has made some amazing changes to the brand. The Flat Roof Manor range is a quirky and feminine range that centers on the local manor cat. The range recently welcomed the addition of a light version of some of the more popular wines. Click here to view the video of Estelle talking about their Flat Roof Manor Pinot Rosé 2010.

Graham Beck

Erica Obermeyer is not only a gracious host and lovely person but also a phenomenal winemaker. Her passion for nature and winemaking is clearly evident in the numerous awards she's received since joining Graham Beck in 2005. Her lovable German Pointer kept us thoroughly entertained during our visit. Please click here to watch the video of Erika talking about the Graham Beck Coffeestone Cabernet 2010.

Fleur du Cap

As cellarmaster at The Bergkelder, Andrea Freeborough is committed towards quality and excellence. Her talent and expertise have catapulted Fleur du Cap to new heights. Click here to view the video of Andrea chatting about the Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.

Zonnebloem

The winemaking team at Zonnebloem is made up of three fantastic ladies Bonny van Niekerk (red winemaker), Annelie Viljoen (Viticulturalist) and Eliza Coetzee (white winemaker).

After starting out as assistant red winemaker in 2005 Bonny van Niekerk (red winemaker) impressed the winemaking team at Zonnebloem enough to promote her to Red winemaker in 2007. Annelie Viljoen (viticulturist) comes from a wine industry family (her husband is Neethlingshof winemaker De Wet Viljoen) and was the first woman grape buyer to be appointed by Distell in 2007. Eliza Coetzee (white winemaker) joined Zonnebloem in 2005 as assistant white winemaker. After Deon Boshoff's promotion to cellarmaster in 2010, Eliza filled his role as white winemaker at Zonnebloem. Be sure to watch the video of these great ladies discussing the Zonnebloem Laureat 2009.

Don't forget to enter our August 'Sisters are doing it for themselves' competition! There are some fabulous wines up for grabs!