New Guild members

(L-R) Andries Burger, Frans Smit, Rianie Strydom, Pierre Wahl and Boela Gerber

Rianie Strydom, who dominated the highly contested Tri Nations Wine Challenge last year by winning the best Shiraz and best Red Wine categories, is the fourth woman to have joined since the inception of the Guild.

Andries Burger has a string of top international awards to his name including two Decanter trophies and numerous 5-star Platter wines. He brings to the Guild his technical expertise and practical approach to winemaking. He is a “constant student”, keeping up to date with local and international winemaking techniques and trends.

Boela Gerber has won awards for Groot Constantia, where he has been winemaker since 2001. These include the Trophy for Best South African White Wine at the 2009 International Wine Challenge, the Best Sauvignon and Best South African White Wine at last year's International Wine Competition for his 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and regular Swiss International Airlines Gold awards on an annual basis. He is passionate about wine education and is involved in presenting wine courses for the Cape Wine Academy and smaller groups of wine enthusiasts.

Frans Smit graduated at the top of his class at Elsenburg Agriculture College in 1993 and has been the winemaker at Spier for 15 years. With a passion for innovation and quality winemaking, Frans has produced award-winning wines for Spier and increased the winemaking capacity from 20 000 to 250 000 cases.

His peers describe Pierre Wahl as a young and dynamic winemaker who is a good team player and mentor for young winemakers. He also boasts numerous prestigious wine awards; including having his Rijk's Shiraz 2004 voted “Best Wine on Show” at the 2009 Michelangelo International Wine Awards.

Criteria

Membership of the Guild is by invitation only and is extended to winemakers who have been responsible for the production of outstanding wines for a minimum of five years, and who continue to do so.

“The credentials of our new members speak for themselves and their membership is a good reflection of the outstanding winemaking talent in South Africa,” says Guild chair Johan Malan. “There are still other winemakers out there who deserve to be Guild members and we look forward to seeing them join us soon.”