Babylonstoren & The Winemaker Who Accidentally Ended Up Making Wine | Platinum Magazine, September 2026

There is something rather reassuring about people who find their purpose by accident.

When I met Danielle, one of the young winemakers behind South African icon Babylonstoren, I expected to hear the usual story: childhood vineyards, a lifelong love of wine, a carefully mapped-out route into the industry. 

Instead, I discovered she had originally intended to study molecular biology when a university admin error changed everything.

While waiting for her corrected exam results, she was temporarily placed onto a winemaking degree. By the time those results finally arrived, she had already discovered something that would quietly alter the course of her life.

“After my first year I never looked back,” she tells me.

Her first harvest was, by her own admission, brutal. Long hours, exhaustion and physically demanding work defined the experience – and persuaded many of her classmates that winemaking was not for them.

For Danielle, it confirmed something important - “if I could survive that and still love wine, then I knew I was in the right industry.”

The reality of winemaking rarely resembles the glossy image people imagine. Yes, there are beautiful estates, polished tastings and glamorous international travel, but there are also wet cellar floors, forklifts, endless cleaning, heavy lifting and harvest days that stretch well beyond twelve hours. 

What makes her story particularly impressive is how quickly things have changed. She joined Babylonstoren as a three-month intern, expecting it to be temporary. A few years later, she now manages a cellar team of five men and speaks about leadership, respect and responsibility in a way that feels remarkably mature for someone so early in their career.

What struck me most was how often she returned to people. She notices when somebody has stayed late too many evenings in a row, about not overloading the same team members repeatedly, and about earning respect not through hierarchy but through doing the difficult jobs alongside everyone else.

“I did the dirty work with them,” she says. “I still do”. 

The wine she speaks about with the greatest emotion is Babylonstoren’s Semillon, partly because she helped create it from the beginning. She was there for the original conversations, the blending trials, the bottling and eventually the launch.

“I worked on this wine from conception to bottle.”

The result is a textured, layered white wine that feels like a brilliant reminder of why Semillon deserves more attention.

There is freshness and citrus, but also weight and generosity, making it the sort of bottle that works equally well for wine enthusiasts and people who simply want something delicious.

Danielle immediately suggests seafood pairings; white fish with lemon, mussel bisque or prawns. Personally, I would also happily open this with roast chicken, chicken parmesan or creamy seafood pasta.

One practical tip: stop serving wines like this directly from the fridge. Take the bottle out 15 minutes before guests arrive. The texture changes completely and suddenly the wine feels more generous, more expressive and far more

expensive than it actually is.

The second wine that feels closely linked to Danielle herself is Babylonstoren’s rosé. Made from Mourvèdre, she describes it as the wine that instantly transports her back to harvest: long days, busy tanks and the organised chaos of picking season.

Each year, the wine has to be bottled and shipped in time for Chelsea Flower Show, creating what sounds like an annual race against the clock. Yet when she talks about it, there is genuine affection rather than stress.

“As winemakers, we are not addicted to chaos, we are addicted to problem-solving” (although after hearing stories of harvest I suspect the two are closely connected!).

Her favourite pairing surprised me: Eggs Royale. More specifically, salmon and hollandaise sauce – but once she explains it, it makes perfect sense. The freshness of the wine cuts through the richness beautifully while the savoury, salty elements make the fruit feel brighter.

Rosé deserves better than being reserved only for sunny afternoons. This is exactly the sort of bottle I would open with smoked salmon, crab, prawns, roast chicken salads or simply when friends arrive and you want something immediately joyful.

What stayed with me after meeting Danielle was not simply that she loves making wine - it was her energy. She talks about harvest with excitement rather than exhaustion, leadership with thoughtfulness rather than ego, and opportunities with genuine gratitude.

An inspiring young woman with ambition and gratitude. I will be following Danielle’s career because if this is only the beginning, her future in wine looks very interesting indeed.

Her final message is simple: keep supporting South African wine!

Elizabeth Hawthornthwaite for Platinum Magazine, September 2026

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