Four trailblazers of the South African wine industry were honoured on Wednesday 2 February during the industry’s annual Wine Harvest Commemorative event – which took place at the historic Groot Constantia Wine Estate in Cape Town.
The event, which was also online, gave recognition to individuals for their exceptional contribution in the following categories: Visionary Leadership, Diversity and Transformation, Wine Appreciation and Wine Advancement, and Viticulture and Wine Creation. Recognised in these categories were Carmen Stevens, Denise Stubbs, Christine Rudman and Francois Viljoen, respectively.
Stevens, the first black South African allowed to study winemaking, has 25 years of winemaking experience. After initially being barred from enrolling at Elsenburg due to the colour of her skin, she went on to work as a winemaker for different premium vineyards before founding Carmen Stevens Wines (PTY) Ltd, the first 100% black woman-owned winery based in Stellenbosch.
An active industry role player, Stevens is committed to giving back and youth development in the wine industry is close to her heart. She strongly believes in the power of early empowerment programmes to enable children to rise above their circumstances. To date, her NPO has provided 11 622 731 plates of food to 41 363 learners.
Stubbs, who was selected to receive the accolade in the Diversity and Transformation category, is another respected personality within the wine industry who inspires others.
It was always her dream to give back to her community and when given the chance, she left her corporate career and established Thokozani, alongside 65 farm worker shareholders. She is now the Managing Director of Thokozani (meaning ‘celebrations’ in Zulu) and she played a key role in the creation of the Thokozani Group of Companies – a broad-based black economic empowerment initiative that encompasses wine, conferencing, hospitality and property business interests.
Rudman, having helped to build the image of the SA wine industry, has been honoured as the recipient in the Wine Appreciation and Wine Advancement category. A Cape Wine Master, Rudman has over four decades of experience in the industry. From 1977 until 1995, she served as wine brand manager and then marketing manager for Stellenbosch Farmers Winery. She then became the principal of the Cape Wine Academy and chair of the Institute of Cape Wine Masters. In 2015, she was appointed Technical Director of the Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards. She has tasted on international panels across Europe and locally and her writing contributions include the internationally acclaimed annual Platters Wine Guide, Wineland, Classic Wine, the Best Value Guide and Wine Tourism Handbook.
This year’s Viticulture and Wine Creation recipient is Francois Viljoen, a viticulturist in the South African wine industry for the past 36 years.
Prior to taking up his position at the helm of the Gen-Z Vineyard Project in July 2019, Viljoen was the manager of Vinpro’s consultation services for 20 years, during which time he led a team of regional expert viticulturists and soil scientists.
He is known for providing crucial viticultural advice and insight to wine estates and producers across the industry and represents wine producers on various industry committees, boards and working groups.
Dr Ernest Messina, chair of Groot Constantia, said it was an honour and a privilege to give recognition to these role players.
“The annual Wine Harvest Commemorative event is a much-anticipated date on the wine industry’s calendar. We celebrate the start of the industry in SA , bless the new harvest, and celebrate these extraordinary individuals.”
