Aphelele breaks down barriers
Aphelele Mvamva will be going to Sweden to learn more about the wine industry. Picture: Supplied Aphelele Mvamva will be going to Sweden to learn more about the wine industry. Picture: Supplied
Cape Town - From rural Centani in the Eastern Cape, 21-year-old Aphelele Mvamva will soon be jetting off to Sweden to learn more about the wine industry.
The young woman with a bright smile had never dreamed of ever being the first of anything, let alone the first black Drostdy-Hof graduate.
Overwhelmed with the opportunity, the shy, yet assertive woman said she hoped to learn and gain experience over the years that she could “become a businesswoman and employ many people in my community to help change their situations”.
Mvamva has broken all her barriers, though not a stranger to the world of wine, having been raised by a woman who worked at a vineyard. Now, she will grow and harvest her own grapes to make her special blends of fine wine.
Mvamva was chosen as the first Drostdy-Hof Graduate in a novel skills accelerator programme that will see her spending next year learning from some of the best minds in South Africa’s wine industry.
The year-long mentoring project, designed to fast-track her career, will expose her to specialists in wine-growing, winemaking, sustainability, marketing and consumer trends.
This includes spending several weeks in Sweden, one of the brand’s key markets where she will meet consumers and members of the retail and restaurant trade.
As a child, she moved between the Eastern Cape and Stellenbosch, finally settling in Kayamandi to complete her matric at Makupulu Secondary School in 2016.
Mvamva learnt about the Pinotage Youth Development Academy through her older sister, who completed the course. “Her stories were so interesting. It was really an exciting opportunity to also enrol at PYDA for the year-long course that covers wine, tourism and hospitality,” she said.
Mvamva described herself as someone who “builds good relationships” and who is “adaptable, a fast learner and has good listening, creative and writing skills”.
Mvamva attributed her wine knowledge to her Pinotage Youth Development Academy facilitator Nomonde Kubeka. “She has such a love of teaching, and especially of teaching about wine, that it’s now become my passion too,” she said.
Mvamva sees herself in an ambassadorial or marketing role in the future. “I absolutely love talking, sharing and communicating what I’ve learned. Ideally, I’d really like to run some form of business in Kaymandi that allows me to employ people in the community,” she said.
Her favourite white wines are Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer, while her favourite red is Merlot.