Protégé appointed as winemaker at Hartenberg

L - R: Tamsyn Jeftha with her mentor Carl Schultz, Hartenberg's winemaker

Jeftha, who worked alongside Hartenberg cellarmaster, Carl Schultz during her final year of the Guild's mentorship programme, has blossomed into a sassy young winemaker who loves to add her own spin on the wines she works with.

A graduate in Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University, she recently completed her three-year internship through the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme. As a permanent member of the Hartenberg team, she is now able to pursue her love for red wines and unusual winemaking methods together with Schultz, who enjoys a formidable reputation, particularly for his Shiraz.

"The Protégé Programme afforded me the opportunity to work with some of the best winemakers South Africa has to offer. During this time I gained first-hand experience in creating two of my favourite wine styles; sparkling wine with Jeff Grier at Villiera and superb Shiraz with my mentor Carl Schultz here at Hartenberg Estate. I would not exchange what I learned from my mentors for anything in the world," says Jeftha, who grew up in Strand and inherited her love for winemaking from her father.

"It all started when my dad once explained that wine is a continuous value adding process. From the moment you plant the vine through to the final stages of bottling and labelling you are creating something special and adding value, be it to the ground, product or ultimately adding to the occasion where people enjoy it. I was hooked immediately," she says.