Paarlite proves his mettle
2007-08-30
PAARLITE Norman Ketelo, cellar foreman at De Grendel winery, who does not speak Afrikaans, excelled in the final year of a wine-making course, conducted totally in Afrikaans, thanks to the help from his young daughter.
Ketelo, who commutes daily to the winery in Cape Town from Fairyland, achieved 76% for the SKOP 3 diploma from Ekov Elsenburg despite all the course material, text books and lectures being exclusively in Afrikaans.
‘My daughter, Noluvo, would translate all the words for me so that I could understand what I had to learn,” said Ketelo.
Noluvo is at Ebenezer Primary.
According to Ketelo he would read the book to her, without understanding a word of what the sounds meant, and she would translate what he was reading into English.
“I am very happy for her help, without her I could not understand what I had to learn,” he said.
SKOP 3 is a diploma for senior cellar workers.
Ketelo, who passed SKOP 1 and 2 with 89% and 81% respectively, said during those courses he had to rely on his neighbours to translate the text book.
“I would buy maybe two beers and give it to them and then sit with them and read the words and they would tell me what the words meant,” he said.
Ketelo is passionate about winemaking and enjoys working at De Grendel.
“I used to work as a security guard which I did not enjoy. I got a break working as a cellar hand at the Graham Beck cellar in 2000,” he said.
“I love being involved in the whole process from the vines to the final product in the bottle. It is a challenging, but very rewarding career.”
Ketelo gained experience working in the cellars of L’Ormarins and Meerendal. In 2005, once the state-of-the-art wine cellar was completed, he joined the De Grendel team.
“In 2006 we harvested in the new cellar for the first time,” said Ketelo, “it’s great to work with such a committed team.”
Last year Ketelo was one of five cellar workers chosen by Elsenburg to study a Barrel Maintenance programme in Burgundy, France.
“We were taken through the whole process, from where the trees are grown to the barrel's effect on wine. I enjoyed it and learnt a lot. It was great to visit France.
“My big ambition is to make my own batch of wine one day.”
Charles Hopkins, cellarmaster at De Grendel, said: “I noticed Norman’s potential when we worked together at Graham Beck. I am delighted with his excellent progress, it is great working with him."
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