The four new wine masters are Brendan Butler, Mount Vernon winemaker, François Cillié, Stark-Condé marketing manager, Anton Swarts, Spier senior winemaker and Ivan Oertle, Grande Provence marketing manager.

Butler specialised in white Bordeaux-style blends in South Africa while Cillié studied alternative anti-oxidants and preservatives in wine, specifically the viability of rooibos and honeybush wood.

Swarts looked at tartrate stabilisation of wine in the South African wine industry and Oertle evaluated the development of emerging South African wine companies owned by members of the black community.