Aslina Wines

The story of Aslina Wines is inseparable from the story of Ntsiki Biyela — a woman who grew up in the rural village of Mahlabathini in KwaZulu-Natal, worked as a domestic worker, had never tasted wine, and went on to become South Africa's first Black female winemaker.

In 1999, Biyela received a scholarship funded by South African Airways to study winemaking at Stellenbosch University. She arrived in the Winelands knowing nobody and nothing about wine. She graduated and in 2004 was hired as winemaker at Stellekaya Wines in Stellenbosch, making history as the first Black woman to hold the title of winemaker in South Africa. She spent over a decade there, building her reputation and earning the title of South Africa's Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009.

In 2016, Biyela took the boldest step of her career: she launched Aslina Wines, a self-funded wine business named after her grandmother Aslina, the matriarch who raised her. The name honours the woman who gave her strength, shelter and determination — qualities that define both the winemaker and her wines.

The Aslina range is focused and purposeful. The Sauvignon Blanc is bright and zesty, sourced from Stellenbosch vineyards. The Chardonnay is barrel-fermented and well-rounded. The Skin Contact Chenin Blanc is distinctive — a portion of the grapes are fermented on skins for up to seven days, producing a golden-hued wine with textural complexity and honeyed depth. The Cabernet Sauvignon is structured and age-worthy. At the top of the range sits the Umsasane, a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Umsasane is the Zulu word for umbrella tree — providing shelter, protection and comfort — and was Aslina's nickname.

Biyela's impact extends well beyond the cellar. She serves on the board of the Pinotage Youth Development Academy, which trains young people from the Cape Winelands to enter the wine industry. In 2017, she was listed among the world's top ten Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink. Today Aslina Wines is based at Devonbosch in Stellenbosch, where Biyela continues to craft wines that carry the weight of a remarkable personal journey and a vision for a more inclusive South African wine industry.

What makes Aslina compelling is the integrity of purpose behind every bottle. These are not vanity wines or celebrity labels. They are the product of a winemaker who earned her skills through academic rigour and decades of hands-on cellar work, who self-funded her own venture, and who named it after the grandmother who made everything possible. The Skin Contact Chenin Blanc alone — with its golden hue, orchard fruit and dry honeyed character — is unlike anything else in the Stellenbosch landscape, a wine that reflects both innovation and deep respect for the Cape's heritage cultivar. For visitors to Devonbosch, tasting Aslina is to experience a story of transformation that mirrors South Africa's own.