Cape Wine Master Janine van Zyl has been named the 2026 New SA Wine Writer of the Year, making competition history by winning both the best article and best blog categories. It is the first time in the competition’s 14 years that one writer has taken both honours.

Her winning article, Who will drink South African wine tomorrow? tackles a question that is important to every producer and brand owner seeking to understand the next generation of consumers. She writes, “Tomorrow’s wine drinker is already here, standing at the braai with a can in one hand and a phone in the other.”

It is a refreshing perspective. Perhaps the challenge is not always convincing younger consumers to take wine more seriously, but finding ways for wine to fit more naturally into their lives.

Her winning blog, Ice in the Chenin and other South African wine crimes, takes a similarly relaxed approach to the rules we sometimes impose on wine drinking. Her advice? “Keep the wine cool, the glass clean and the company good, the rest can look after itself.”

Janine is no stranger to the industry. A qualified chef, sommelier and Cape Wine Master, she works internationally across wine marketing, communications and media. She is also a former WineLand 30 Under 30 ambassador in 2022. She received R15 000 for her winning article and R5 000 for her blog.

Runner-up Jo Muller, Marketing and Communications Manager at Saxenburg Wine Estate, received R5 000 for her article exploring how the winemaker’s role is changing beyond the cellar door. Her argument is equally relevant. Technical expertise still matters, but increasingly, so does the ability to connect with people and communicate what makes a wine worth discovering.

Why WineLand is involved

South Africa has no shortage of wine stories. But who will tell them next, and who will be listening?

That is why WineLand Media supports the New SA Wine Writer competition as its media partner. Our role is not simply to report on the winners. We want to help discover writers who can question familiar thinking, bring fresh perspectives to industry conversations and make South African wine relevant to audiences we have not yet reached.

As part of the partnership, WineLand will publish the winning articles and blogs, giving these voices a platform beyond the competition itself.

This year’s judging panel included Wanda Augustyn, Cassie du Plessis, Joanne Gibson, Danie Keet, Neil Pendock and Maryke Roberts.

“What stood out for me this year was the freshness and confidence of the new voices. Clever and well-researched, yet readable, relevant, and genuinely South African. Exactly the type of new thinking we want to discover and develop,” says Wanda, editor of WineLand Media.

Organised by the SA National Wine Show Association (SANWSA), the competition is open to writers aged 35 and younger. It also forms part of a broader effort to encourage emerging wine journalism, with Veritas continuing its engagement with journalism departments at Stellenbosch University, the University of Cape Town and Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

For an industry working hard to find new consumers, these fresh voices are worth listening to. After all, the way we tell our wine stories matters almost as much as the stories themselves.