Winemaker Focus: Stellekaya
Courtesy of BKWine TV, below is a brief interview with the Winemaker of Stellekaya, based in Stellenbosch. Ntsiki Biyela has been making quality wines at Stellenkaya since 2004, and describes how she became involved in winemaking.
From My Wine Cellar we wish her all the best in her young winemaking career, and we look forward to [...]
Boutique Wine: A Mystery Unto Itself!
The term ‘Boutique Wine’ or ‘Boutique Winery’ has been grossly overused. Evidence of this is apparent in the many different definitions given to the term:
‘If a winery makes less than 2,000 cases a year, it’s considered a boutique winery’
‘If a winery makes less than 5,000 cases a year, it’s considered a boutique winery’
‘Boutique wines come [...]
The Laymans Guide to Wine Making
Here’s my guide to the complex process of wine making. To keep it simple I’ve summarized each step into as few words as possible…
Step 1: Harvesting
Grapes are harvested at precisely the right moment. The stems are removed from the grapes by the mechanical process of destemming.
Step 2: Crushing
The berries are gently squeezed breaking the skins [...]
Wine 101
What exactly IS wine? Ok, I know what you’re thinking… lame! But I think you’d be surprised as to how many people couldn’t accurately answer this question. And since people are often too proud to admit this fact, I thought I’d take the liberty to explain…
Wine is simply fermented grape juice. Ok, but then [...]
