She hopes to become a “phenomenal winemaker” and thinks the Cape Winemakers’ Guild Protégé Programme will help her hone her skills and put her theoretical background into practice.
Meet Chandré Petersen from Paarl, who is getting plenty of practical experience right now at Nitida cellar outside Durbanville.
She is one of three successful viticultural graduates who, thanks to the programme, are spending between six and 12 months at a time at several Cape cellars, working alongside top winemakers.
The other two are Heinrich Kulsen, also from Paarl, who is enjoying mentorship with Louis Strydom at Ernie Els Wines in the Helderberg and Philani Shongwe, who is living on the Elgin farm at Paul Cluver Estate wines, where cellarmaster Andries Burger is at the helm.
Philani, who graduated in viticulture and oenology from the University of Stellenbosch, is from Ulundi, where, he points out, few people know about wine.
I asked this enthusiastic trio why they decided to study wine:
Philani: “I wanted to study something different… when I read an article in a local newspaper about Ntsiki Biyela, the winemaker at Stellekaya, I knew that was what I wanted to do. “
Heinrich: “It was only in grade 10 when someone came to our school to talk to us about wine that I became interested… and in my second year at Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute, when we studied the actual winemaking process, I became really excited…”
Chandré: “I was inspired by the fact that there are still only a few woman winemakers and by the example of Carmen Stevens.
“As I did not do science or biology at school, I could not enrol for viticulture at Stellenbosch, so started a B Com. Then I found out Elsenburg would take me on the strength of my maths… so I completed my degree there.”
The Cape Winemakers’ Guild chooses successful graduates with potential to become exceptional winemakers and places them with guild members for practical experience and training, while paying their salaries for three years. Moving to cellars of varying sizes specialising in different wines, the experience is diverse and invaluable.
Heinrich Kulsen and Chandré Petersen also benefited from the Guild’s bursary project for undergraduates. Both programmes are aimed at helping transformation in the wine industry, proof of which can be found in the quality of Howard Booysen’s Weisser riesling, among other products: this former protégé now has his own label, Howard Booysen Boutique Wines. Others getting hands-on experience at noteworthy cellars include Praisy Dlamini at Distell, Tammy Jeftha at Hartenberg, Sacha Claasen at De Grendel and Elmarie Botes at Kanonkop. - Weekend Argus