Compagniesdrift managing director Ilse Ruthford wears many hats. Warrior, cancer survivor, and boss lady of one of the most successful black economic empowerment ventures to date in the Cape Winelands.
And with a bubbly personality, she is right at home in the wine industry which contributes R55 billion per year to the Mzansi economy. She oversees the four easy-drinking, pocket-friendly wines which farmworkers with ties to Stellenbosch wine estates Meerlust, Vriesenhof and Ken Forrester, released under the Compagniesdrift label.
“Believe it or not, but I really loved it, not only the people aspect, [but] the wine aspect too,” says Ruthford about her decision way back to study wine marketing after completing her marketing qualifications.
Born and bred in Pniel, a village between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, Ruthford has always been exposed to the wine industry. Today, she boasts over two decades of work experience and did everything possible to reach the top. “I did not necessarily have the qualifications, but I had the experience, and I worked my way up from the bottom to the top,” she adds.
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Growing from strength to strength
Ruthford is among the wine ambassadors celebrated in Food For Mzansi’s Faces of Summer campaign. In conversation with Brian Mahanke, better known as The Black Sommelier, she recalls the special moment when Compagniesdrift was launched in May 2015.
“The company started off as a wine storage facility that offered a variety of services. And eventually in 2015, the decision was made to produce wine,” she says.
She witnessed the company grow and is currently also the chief executive of a multi-million-Rand storage facility. Compagniesdrift was launched 1 December in 2010, originally as a 50-50 partnership.
Having started with only four wine producers, it has subsequently secured commitment from 50 wine producers to store their wine, with a total of 2.5 million bottles already in the warehouse.
The facility offers a cost-effective alternative to those producers who either don’t have their own facilities or require transportation of their wine over long distances to acquire such facilities.
But there’s more… Since 1 July 2019, Compagniesdrift is a 100% black-owned community company. “I am very proud of this achievement, and we still have the support of my mentors,” adds Ruthford.
A shock to the system
While there were many celebratory moments in 2019 for Compagniesdrift, it was also the year in which Ruthford was diagnosed with breast cancer – just four months before the company became wholly black-owned.
“It was a shock to the system, something I never thought would happen to me. I think I cried when I got the diagnosis thereafter. I decided it came my way [and] I accepted it and I will work through it,” she says.
Ruthford explains that the journey was not easy, but the support she received from her family and Compagniesdrift colleagues during the most difficult time, lightened the burden and gave her hope.
“If you have support from the family, you just want to fight and what I take from that journey is that I am grateful that I am still here,” she says.
Ruthford’s summer wine selection
So, in honour of her remarkable journey, we asked Ruthford to pick her favourite two summer wines. Her first choice is the Compagniesdrift Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2018. The grapes are from the Stellenbosch vineyards which were hand-picked and matured for eight months in French oak barrels.
“If you nose it, you will get dark berry fruits like blackcurrant, plums and for me it’s a very well-balanced red wine,” says Ruthford.
Her second choice is a natural sweet wine, named Compagniesdrift Albertus. It is a non-vintage selection with two vintages – hanepoot and muscat – used.
“The vineyard is on our land in front of our premises and it’s also a single vineyard wine named the Albertus,” says Ruthford. If you nose it, you cannot miss the ginger Turkish delight as well as the honey flavours. The Albertus is fermented in barrels for 18-months.
According to Ruthford, the Albertus pairs well with butter chicken meals and desserts, including cheeses.
- As part of its popular “Faces of summer” campaign, Food For Mzansi will feature some of South Africa’s finest winemakers and ambassadors. Next up is Delheim.
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