Meet Ntsiki Biyela: South Africa's First Black Female Winemaker

In 1998 Ntsiki Biyela won a winemaking scholarship that changed her life.  Growing up in a small village in South Africa, Biyela had no idea what was wine.  At the time she boarded a bus to travel across South Africa to the wine country of the Western Cape, she thought of wine as another name for cider.  The only alcholic beverage most people of her village drank was beer.

When Biyela first tried wine, she thought the taste was disgusting.  Eleven years later, Biyela is one of few black South African winemakers and the first black woman.  Her blends of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and pinotage have won gold medals and four-star ratings. She was named South Africa’s Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009.

Check out a recent New YorkTimes feature on Ntsiki Biyela's fascinating journey and her rise from living in a shack in the hills of Zululand to judging the countries entries to the International Wine and Spirit Competition.