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People in Wine · Winemaking, enterprise & opportunity
Ntsiki Biyela
Ntsiki Biyela’s path from wine studies to founding Aslina connects technical skill, personal heritage and new opportunities in South African wine.
A closer look · Winemaking, enterprise & opportunity
The quick profile
- Connection
- Winemaking, enterprise & opportunity
- Where to begin
- KwaZulu-Natal & Stellenbosch, South Africa
- A useful time marker
- Stellekaya in 2004 · Aslina in 2016
A route into the Cape’s wine world
Biyela grew up in Mahlabathini in KwaZulu-Natal. Aslina’s biography records a scholarship to Stellenbosch University in 1999, graduation in 2003 and a winemaking position at Stellekaya in 2004. Wines of South Africa identifies her as the country’s first Black woman winemaker.
A name with a personal history
She founded Aslina in 2016, naming it for her grandmother. The producer’s biography connects her ambitions with international collaboration and describes her work with the Pinotage Youth Development Academy. This gives a profile room to consider both the wine being made and access to the skills and opportunities behind it.
Begin with the work as well as the milestone
A pioneering career matters, and it need not be the only question we ask. Which grapes does the winemaker choose? What is the intended style? What can a technical sheet tell us? Following these questions gives Biyela’s wines the same attentive introduction we would offer any producer, while keeping the wider significance of her path visible.
Three things to notice
- KwaZulu-Natal is part of her personal origin story; Stellenbosch is part of her professional wine story.
- Aslina honours her grandmother rather than naming a grape or region.
- Training and opportunity are practical parts of how a wine industry develops.
A few milestones
- 1999: Begins wine studies on a scholarship.
- 2003–2004: Graduates, then joins Stellekaya as winemaker.
- 2016: Founds Aslina Wines.
Try a little discovery
Choose a current Aslina wine description and identify the grape, region and one stated production choice. Connect it to a Discovery guide below. Then write a question about the wine itself and a separate question about the person who made it.
A few questions worth uncorking
Is Aslina a grape variety?
No. It is the wine brand Biyela founded, named in honour of her grandmother.
Can I explore this story without buying wine?
Yes. Start with the producer biography, a wine description and our Cape Winelands and grape guides.
Follow the connections
Follow the person into a place, grape, style or method. Explore the Wineries collection for the producers, places and methods connected with these stories.
Meet another person in wine
Follow the story into a winery
Behind this introduction
Sources checked 15 October 2026. Producer and personal accounts provide useful first-hand context and are identified below. The discovery questions and graphic are editorial interpretations.
- Aslina: Ntsiki Biyela’s biography
- Aslina: founding and brand story
- Wines of South Africa: celebrating women in wine