WINERY
Aslina is the name of Ntsiki Biyela’s grandmother, whose care and guidance gave her the inspiration and vision to succeed. Ntsiki currently produces four premium lines under the Aslina brand: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Umsasane (the Bordeaux blend), with a total of 12.000 bottles per year. Grapes are sourced from different areas in the Western Cape – these currently include the Elgin, Stellenbosch and Paarl regions.
WINE MAKER
Ntsiki Biyela was born in 1978 in KwaZulu-Natal and grew up in the Zululand district. Having made a number of unsuccessful grant applications to study at university, she was offered the opportunity to study viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch University in 1998 by South African Airways, who were providing a number of wine making scholarships.
From 2004 Biyela was head winemaker at Stellekaya Wines, where she became the first black female winemaker in South Africa. In 2009 she was awarded South Africa’s Woman Winemaker of the Year. In 2017 Ntsiki realized her dream by launching Aslina Wines, a self-funded wine business.
In 2017, she was listed in the world’s top 10 most Innovative Women in Food and Drink by Fortune’s Food & Wine. At the prestigious 2021 Wine Harvest Commemorative Event, Ntsiki received the Diversity and Transformation Award for her pioneering work in the industry in South Africa.