With Women’s Month in full swing, De Toren Private Wine Cellar in Stellenbosch is highlighting the integral role its female harvesters and vineyard tenders play in the estate’s world-class wines.
The permanent vineyard and cellar team is 60% female, and women hold key senior management roles too. It’s an unusual statistical skew for the wine industry, but for De Toren – which boldly embraces innovation – being an exception to the rule is all in a day’s work.
The boutique winery, which specialises in luxurious, world-class Bordeaux-style wines, is situated on the Polkadraai Hills. Over and above its exceptional female team, the estate also lays claim to other industry firsts, such as being the first to plant and produce five varietal, Bordeaux-style blends in South Africa, and it’s the first to introduce a gravity-fed cellar.
Acknowledging the finesse women bring to the vineyard and production process is woven into De Toren’s philosophy, but in Women’s Month glasses are raised to celebrate their contribution.
“It is such a pleasure to be associated with an estate where innovation on a scientific and practical level remains a topic of discussion,” said brand manager Charelle van den Berg. “There is no lack of excitement at De Toren when it comes to producing wine in the quest for perfection!”
The choice to employ female-only harvesters and vineyard tenders is also a practical one: the winery believes that, because women have smaller hands with a slightly gentler touch, their work is more meticulous and delicate. The estate has stuck by this theory for more than 20 years and, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
De Toren was ranked as one of the top 10 red wine producers in SA by the South African Wine Index, and its De Toren Z and Fusion V wines have been awarded incredible 4.5-star ratings by the Platter’s Wine Guide.
The all-female vineyard team is led by Johanna Paulse, Fransiena Radloff and Wilma Riet. This respected trio is responsible for the execution of all viticulture practices on a single-shoot level, all the way from pruning to harvesting as well as training contractors and managing the internal team. Paulse, Radloff, and Riet ensure De Toren’s superlative standards are always adhered to.
In the cellar quality controllers Rochelle and Christine Scheffers are highly valued for their meticulous attention to detail in sorting, particularly during the pressures of the harvest season. Outside harvest season, this pair handles bottling, labelling, individual packaging of wines, and the elaborate custom packaging of De Toren gift boxes and cases.
In addition to the dynamic team on the harvest and cellar side, women also hold key senior management roles at De Toren. These include Van den Berg; marketing executive Mariëtte van Tonder, client relationship manager Marizaan Beukes, front-of-house manager Else-Marie Muller and finance manager Nicolette du Preez. De Toren is quick to raise a glass to the power of women in the workplace; after all, they play an integral role in maintaining the estate’s world-class status.
