THE donation of two French oak barrels by a leading Paarl based cooperage will enable two aspirant winemakers to produce their own wines this year as part of the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme.
The two CWG Protégés, Sacha Claassen and Tamsyn Jeftha, who are currently working under the mentorship of Bernhard Veller at Nitida and Jeff Grier at Villiera, now each have a dedicated French Oak Quintessence barrel donated by the Cape Cooperage Group to make their own wines this year.
The production of their own wine forms part of the Protégés’ three-year internship.
Protégés are required to prepare budgets, production plans and marketing proposals for the wines they produce, in order to experience the entire process from the making to selling of a wine.
The wines will be offered during some of the Guild’s charity auctions and the funds raised will be donated to the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust.
The Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé programme was launched in 2006 under the auspices of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust with the goal of bringing about transformation in the wine industry by cultivating, nurturing and empowering promising individuals to become winemakers of excellence.
The Protégés have the rare opportunity of being mentored by some of the Cape’s finest winemakers who are members of the Guild, during their three-year internship, gaining valuable hands-on skills and experience in a number of top cellars.
Students interested in applying for the Protégé Programme can visit the Guild’s website at www.capewinemakersguild.com.
