Ntsiki Biyela grew up in Mahlabathini, a rural village in Kwazulu Natal. Having spent a year as a domestic worker, she was awarded a scholarship to study winemaking in 1999. She graduated in 2003 from Stellenbosch University and joined boutique winery Stellekaya Wines the following year.

Ntsiki’s ambition to create her own wines grew following a collaboration with Californian winemaker, Helen Kiplinger, as part of the Wine for the World initiative. She has consulted in France, making wine under Winemakers Collection in Bordeaux.

Ntsiki is also on the board of directors for the Pinotage Youth Development Academy, which provides technical training and personal development for young South Africans in the Cape Winelands, preparing them for work in the wine industry. The programme offers them the unique opportunity to emulate her own considerable success.

Find Aslina Wines online and on social media: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Follow Item 13 on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter.

esSense 13 is on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter.

Don’t forget to subscribe & leave us a review!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.