Nederburg Heritage Brewmaster Red

Nederburg’s story started in 1791 when German immigrant Philippus Wolvaart acquired 49 hectares of land in the Paarl Valley. He named his property Nederburgh, in honour of the VOC commissioner, Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh. Later, the ‘h’ was dropped from the spelling of the farm’s name and it became Nederburg as it is known today. The beautiful thatched and gabled Cape Dutch manor house that Wolvaart completed in 1800 is a national monument today. At the heart of Nederburg’s winemaking journey are the people who are part of our rich and colourful history, from generations of award-winning and innovative winemakers to Ilse Graue, who lived in the manor house until the late 1950s and was a gracious host to Nederburg’s many visitors. Legend has it that on a balmy summer’s night you can sometimes still hear the sounds of laughter, clinking crystal glasses and the tinkling of her Beckstein piano floating out over the rose garden that she planted…

“After close to two years in the Cape, it seemed to me that winemaking would be better suited to my personality,” Zinaschke explains. “I like to get my hands dirty and be physically involved from the get-go, as opposed to starting with wine that is to be distilled. I’d be working more closely with the elements and have to tackle each vintage as an entirely new project. It’s the anticipation of new challenges, new parameters and new responses every year - that state of flux - that appeals to me. So, in 2007 I met up with oom Willie van Zijl at Elsenburg, and the rest is history.” After graduating in 2010 with a BAgric degree in winemaking and viticulture from Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute in Stellenbosch, she went to make wine for Overhex Private Cellar, then the KWV and GlenWood Vineyards. In 2018, she was offered the job as assistant red-winemaker job at Nederburg, thrilled to work for an internationally renowned cellar trading in markets on every continent.