Mouton, Gerda
Title - Company - Pretoria
Contact: Gerda
Website: CapeWineMasters.
My career in the Wine Industry started in 1988 when I was thrown into the deep end by our consultant winemaker, Jan Boland Coetzee owner of Vriesenhof to taste wines for blending and preparing the yeast inoculations at our winery in Franschhoek at the time.
Though I was more involved in the marketing and exporting of our wines, I was thoroughly bitten by
the wine bug. I consequently joined a tasting group which then led to my formal studies with the Cape
Wine Academy attaining the CWA Diploma II in 2002.
Cape Wine Masters qualification achieved in 2007, my reaearch topic was "The terroir: the footprint of
great wine".
I established my own wine export company, Mouton House of Wines in 1997 exporting mainly to Europe and China under our own brands. In 2001, I started with the import of Champagne and wines from France; marketing these through tastings to the trade.
In 2002, I established the Winejoy Wine Club where I offer tutorial tastings as well as fun evenings in wine appreciation. My current focus is to expand the activities of the Winejoy Club in wine appreciation, education, gourmet food and wine matching events and establishing an on-line wine exchange website.
My particular interest is the design of, and advising on investment in wine for private cellar owners as I come out of a background of interior design through my company Interior Space Design. I have written articles on wine investment for private cellars inter alia the Property magazine of SA.
