Wine magazine was published from October 1993 until September 2011 and now lives on in digital form as Winemag.co.za.
After qualifying with a BCom from UNISA, Lahoud worked on the marketing and distribution of print media before stints at several publishing houses in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Lahoud’s media experience spans over 20 years, during which time she was instrumental in launching and re-positioning various magazines and their respective brand extensions. Immediately before taking over winemag.co.za, Lahoud held the position of Getaway Publisher, Getaway Show Director and sat on the RamsayMedia board and EXCO team.
After graduating from Stellenbosch University with a BA Honours in philosophy, Eedes joined Wine magazine in 2000 and served as editor between May 2008 and December 2009. He has completed a wine evaluation course and a small-scale winemaking course under the auspices of the Department of Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University. His experience includes tasting for the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and Platter’s South African Wine Guide in addition to various other local and international competitions.
Tim James is one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators, contributing to various local and international wine publications. He is a taster (and associate editor) for Platter’s. His book Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution appeared in 2013.
Michael Fridjhon has over thirty-five years’ experience in the liquor industry. He is the founder of Winewizard.co.za and holds various positions including Visiting Professor of Wine Business at the University of Cape Town; founder and director of WineX – the largest consumer wine show in the Southern Hemisphere and chairman of The Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show.
Joanne Gibson has been a journalist, specialising in wine, for over two decades. She holds a Level 4 Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and has won both the Du Toitskloof and Franschhoek Literary Festival Wine Writer of the Year awards, not to mention being shortlisted four times in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards. As a sought-after freelance writer and copy editor, her passion is digging up nuggets of SA wine history.
Melvyn Minnaar has been writing about art, wine and related existential issues for many years, for numerous publications. With a history of cultural involvement, opinions about art and wine, the politics of such, and an appreciation for talent, he was honoured by Veritas in 2018.
Greg Sherwood was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and as the son of a career diplomat, spent his first 21 years travelling the globe with his parents. With a Business Management and Marketing degree from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sherwood began his working career as a commodity trader. In 2000, he decided to make more of a long-held interest in wine taking a position at Handford Wines in South Kensington, London and is today Senior Wine Buyer. He became a Master of Wine in 2007.
Jamie Goode is a UK-based wine writer, lecturer, wine judge and book author. With a PhD in plant biology, he worked as a science editor, before starting wineanorak.com in 1999, which became a popular wine website. Since 2005 he’s been the wine columnist for UK national newspaper The Sunday Express, and has written regularly for a range of publications. He is active as a speaker/lecturer and also a wine judge, and is one of the co-chairs for the International Wine Challenge. Goode’s books include the The Science of Wine, Authentic Wine, I Taste Red and Flawless. He’s also prolific on Twitter (@jamiegoode) and Instagram (@drjamiegoode).
Malu Lambert is an award-winning wine journalist. She is the wine editor of Food & Home and writes for numerous other titles on the subjects of wine and food. Malu has achieved Level 3 via WSET and is a graduate of the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging School. She also owns FABLE: a story-telling, social media and copywriting company. Follow her on @MaluLambert
Dr Anna Trapido was trained as an anthropologist at King’s College Cambridge and a chef at the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine. She has twice won the World Gourmand Cookbook Award.
Daisy Jones has been writing reviews of Cape Town restaurants for ten years. She won The Sunday Times Cookbook of the Year for Starfish in 2014. She was shortlisted for the same prize in 2015 for Real Food, Healthy, Happy Children. Jones has been a professional writer since 1995, when she started work at The Star newspaper as a court reporter.
Using the 100-point quality scale, inline with international convention, winemag.co.za convenes top-end blind category tastings and publish various in-depth Reports annually.
After obtaining a BCom from the University of Stellenbosch, Roland Peens immediately found his way into the wine industry. He has worked in marketing, retail, exports and as a sommelier before joining Wine Cellar, merchants and cellarers of fine wines. He is a partner and has been the director since 2005. Local and international study as well as regular travel have added to his extensive insight into the wine world. He tasted for Platter’s South African Wine Guide from 2007 to 2010.
James Pietersen is SA portfolio manager for Wine Cellar, merchants and cellarers of fine wine. He was previously a wine buyer for the Vineyard Connection and head sommelier for the Slick Restaurant Group. Other experience includes tasting for the Platter’s South African Wine Guide and the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and he was also a board member of SASA (South African Sommelier Association).
Ndaba Dube joined the President Hotel as Food & Beverage Operations Manager in September 2019. He worked up the ranks at various hotels from barman, through sommelier and maître d’, to his current position. He has a B. Bus Admin in Finance & Sociology degree from UNISA as well as Postgraduate Diplomas in Wine Business Management and Hospitality Leadership from the UCT Graduate School of Business. He has also completed the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy, WSET 1 – 3 & Cape Wine Academy courses.
Award-winning wine writer, Malu Lambert won the title of the Mont Blanc Emerging Wine Writer of the Year at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2019. She also won the Veritas Young Wine Writer in 2015. She writes for numerous South African titles, and was the wine editor of Food & Home for five years. Internationally, she has also written for Jancis Robinson, The Buyer, Japan Times & Decanter.
She is a taster on the Platter’s Guide, South Africa’s most definitive and respected guide to wine and she sits on various judging panels, including the venerated Wine-of-the-Month Club.A graduate of the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy, Malu is also currently a WSET Diploma student and loves nothing more than to geek-out about wine.The rest of the time she runs, FABLE: a story-telling, social media and copywriting company. And, occasionally, helps out her husband in their craft spirits’ distillery on the Cape Peninsula.
Jolette is a career wine geek and deeply passionate about diversity and sustainability. She holds both a BSc and an MSC in Oenology from stints in SA and Europe, produced wines on four continents over the past 13 years, won the South African Blind Tasting Championships two years in a row, is a WSET Level 3 and Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy graduate. She is the Head of Sales and Imports at Wine Cellar Fine Wine Merchants and judges on local and international panels. In her free time, she makes wine under her own label, The Vineyard Party, with the maiden vintage of two small-batch Sémillons released in June 2021.
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