Just back from France where she
and fellow Guild Protégé, Heinrich Kulsen, spent almost a month in the
vineyards and cellars of famous French domaines as part of the Western Cape
Burgundy Exchange Programme, Elmarie has already joined the winemaking team at
Die Bergkelder.
Heinrich who still has a year
to go before graduating from the Protégé Programme, will be swapping Villiera,
where he has spent a year working with Guild Chairman Jeff Grier, with
Hermanuspietersfontein and winemaker Bartho Eksteen.
Last year’s graduates, Tamsyn
Jeftha and Sacha Claasen are both in full time positions as assistant
winemakers at Hartenberg Estate and Asara Wines respectively, while Praisy
Dlamini, the Guild’s first female protégé has moved from Die Bergkelder to the
all-woman Zonnebloem winemaking team.
Elmarie and Heinrich, the first
Protégés to take part in the Western Cape Burgundy Exchange Programme this
year, both consider their experience priceless. Besides a 2-week stint at the Centre
of Vocational Training and Agricultural Promotion (CFPPA) in Beaune, the wine
capital of Burgundy, they visited various Premier Cru and Grand Cru parcels before
working in the vineyards and cellars during harvest time at their designated
domaines. Elmarie was seconded to Courgis in Chablis, whilst Heinrich worked in
Premeaux.
Working with well-known Chablis winemaker, Thomas
Pico, has had a profound effect on Elmarie, who fell in love with his winemaking
philosophy: “It is about putting what nature gives you in a bottle. The
winemaker is the smallest factor in producing the wine; it is mainly about your
grapes and terroir.”
For Heinrich the experience, which opened his eyes
to a different world, has been a revelation as a South African: “Although we
are a fairly young wine producing country compared to Burgundy, I think we are
evolving quickly and producing world class wines already.”
Sponsored by the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild
Development Trust since 2006, the Protégé
Programme is a three year internship programme which seeks to transform the
wine industry by cultivating and nurturing promising individuals to become
winemakers of excellence. The Protégés
are mentored by members of the Guild who provide them with essential hands-on
skills and experience.
For more
information on the Cape Winemakers Guild, contact Tel: 021 852 0408 or send an
email to info@capewinemakersguild.com. Follow
@CapeWinemakersG on Twitter. Students interested in applying for the Protégé
Programme can visit the Guild’s website at www.capewinemakersguild.com.