FOLLOWING the international trend of top wineries seeking to add female finesse to their wines by appointing female winemakers, the Nelson Wine Estate recently followed suit.
But owner Alan Nelson went a step further by entrusting winemaking on their 135 hectare family estate in the foothills of the Paarl Mountain to his daughter, Lisha (25).
Lisha joins son Daniel who has for the past three seasons taken charge of the 60 odd hectares of vineyards.
And as their motto states, the Nelson’s are - now - indeed “proudly carrying the family name” both in the vineyards and in the cellar.
“I am very pleased that our children are systematically taking over the reigns,” Alan said.
“It is something we’ve been working towards for a long time now. Over the years we’ve put everything into building the estate into what it is today and it is now time for the new generation to start taking control.”
This season (2008) will be the first that sees the whole family intimately involved in the entire wine making process on the estate.
“We realise that this is a baptism of fire for Lisha in an extremely competitive wine industry,” Alan added.
“We are pleased that winemaker Michael Dobrovic of Mulderbosch has agreed to act as Lisha’s mentor for the next few seasons.”
Lisha is both philosophical and realistic about her new responsibilities.
“It is important to be passionate about wine making otherwise it is a job and not a calling, but it is equally important to be realistic and to employ the science of winemaking to ensure that we produce the best wines on the market and wines that everybody will enjoy.
“Winemaking is both an art and a science. I have to take the grapes nature provides and make the best of it, and I look forward to the challenge of improving on the very high standards my dad has set for us.”
Lisha is a self-proclaimed perfectionist in the cellar and fanatical about the science and hygiene of winemaking. After obtaining her BSc degree in viticulture and oenology cum laude at the University of Stellenbosch, she went on to do her MSc on the subject of Brettanomyces, an organism which adversely affects the natural flavours of wine.
But Lisha does not enter the tough and competitive world of winemaking as an academic without any practical experience. Two seasons with Dobrovic in the cellar at Mulderbosch and another at Stonestreet Winery in California, USA, have given her a very sound footing. Add to this Lisha’s academic achievements, which include being runnerup in agriculture in matric in the Western Cape, and you realise that she has the credentials to make it to the top.
To ensure that his sister gets the grapes that will enable her to produce the very best wines, Daniel cares for the vineyards meticulously and believes that it is better to have a lower yield per hectare. In Nelson Estate’s case, this means between 4 and 6 tonnes per hectare.
“You cannot make good wine from poor grapes and my job is to ensure that Lisha gets the best out of our vineyards.
“And I lean heavily on our people who are my eyes and ears in the vineyards. They have proved that you cannot put a price on the loyalty and experience of the staff that work for you in the vineyards.”
And if past achievements are anything to go by, these two young Nelsons have certainly got their work cut out for them. The first wines under the Nelson’s Creek label were introduced in 1995, and the very next year the estate won an award for the best chardonnay in South Africa.
Later that same year the Nelson Wine Estate was crowned Champion Private Wine Estate in the Boland region.
A huge array of local and international awards followed, the most recent being when this dynamic family estate was adjudged champion Shiraz and Chardonnay producer for the Paarl region in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
