THE WOMEN OF NEDERBURG
It’s Women’s Month and the Nederburg team together with #4realness, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to highlight the winery’s incredible female winemakers and viticulturist. In fact, Nederburg’s become known over the years for the number of women in wine who have graced their cellar.
Interested to find out some lesser-known facts about the ladies who are currently responsible for the making of Nederburg’s wines (alongside their male counterparts)? Read on…
Nederburg’s cellar is headed up by the formidable Lizelle Gerber, a veteran with more than 15 years’ experience in the local wine industry. Ask her what drives her, and she’ll unequivocally tell you that it’s mentorship. Not one to shy away from getting her hands dirty, this self-proclaimed tomboy leads an incredible team of talented winemakers and cellar workers. “It gives me immense pleasure to work hand-in-hand with these champions! I'm always grateful for the opportunity to share the knowledge and skills I’ve gained over the past 15 years.”
Her journey has been a fascinating one. She explains: “I wanted a career that would bring me closer to nature, perhaps because I was not raised on a farm. Had I been, I surely would have been up to much mischief! So, during my first year after school, I felt extremely lucky to have been one of only a few women selected for a one-year stint with the South African National Defence Force (as part of the then SALVKOL, a military school for women situated in George).
Meanwhile, Cape Flats-born Jamie Williams, Nederburg’s feisty assistant white-winemaker, who was recently featured as part of Wineland magazine’s 30 Under 30 Club, says one of the biggest challenges she’s had to face to date was “travelling internationally, on my own and having to rely on people I’ve never met!”
This from a young woman raised by a single mum and her late grandmother, who died while Jamie was still in high school. The overseas trip she refers to, was an opportunity to work in Napa, California, after her studies. Her journey into wine however, started some time before that. In her second year of a BSc with specialisation in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Stellenbosch, she undertook a module on wine biotechnology. “I was captured!” she declares. “I’ve always loved science, but also have an artistic side. Most industries give you the opportunity to either be an artist, or a scientist. Both appeal to me, and I believe that wine is the perfect fusion of art and science, my two passions combined.
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