Ntsiki Biyela

Ntsiki Biyela (born 1978) is a South African winemaker and businesswoman who runs Aslina wines. Previously, she was head winemaker at Stellekaya Wines, where Biyela became the first black female winemaker in South Africa.

Biography Biyela grew up in Mahlabathini in Zululand. She graduated from high school in 1996 and worked for a year as a domestic worker. Having made a number of unsuccessful grant applications to study at university, she was offered the opportunity to study viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch University in 1998 by South African Airways, who were providing a number of wine making scholarships.

In 2009 Biyela was named as South Africa’s Woman Winemaker of the Year. making her the first black female winemaker in South Africa. Her first red wine won a gold medal at the Michelangelo awards.

Aslina Wines In 2017, Biyela launched Aslina wines, a self-funded wine business. She found interacting with growers sometimes difficult at first because they assumed that since she was Black, she didn't know anything about wine.