Michael Fridjhon

Michael's deep involvement with wine – particularly South African wine – goes back more than three decades. In that time he has developed a substantial international reputation as an industry critic, as a wine writer, as a consultant, as something of an entrepreneur, and as a wine judge and convenor of judging panels. He is now also a visiting professor at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. As undoubtedly the country’s best-known wine writer he contributes to a number of journals, local and internationally, and has contributed to over 30 books.

Michael has never been strictly speaking a member of the ‘Grape team’, and his articles on the Grape website are reproduced from the national daily, Business Day (to which he has been contributing a weekly column, under the simple heading 'Wine', for a number of years), and from The Weekender. They appear here courtesy of the author and the newspapers.

Tim James

Tim’s wine writing career dates back to 1996 when he won SA Wine magazine's inaugural 'New wine writer of the year' competition. Since then he has written on the subject widely and as a columnist for various local publications. As the prime mover behind this founding of Grape he acted as its editor in its incarnations as print magazine and formal website. He is one of a small handful of local winewriters who have an international presence: for example, he consults to the World Atlas of Wine, has been correspondent with Cathy van Zyl for Tom Stevenson's Wine Report, and has written frequently for the World of Fine Wine. He has for many years been a taster for Platter's Wine Guide, on which he is also an Associate Editor. Sceptical of large line-ups of wine, he avoids such panel tastings, though has judged smaller competitions like the Calyon Trophy. He used to lecture on international topics for the Cape Wine Academy, and became a Cape Wine Master in 1999. Tim still happily recalls Jancis Robinson writing of him as ‘South Africa’s wine controversialist’ and hopes not too much has changed in that regard; she also referred to his 'scepticism' and 'romanticism' – for which he'll settle, given the harsher things some other people have had to say. Tim is at present busy with a book on South African wine, which has been commissioned by the University of California Press.

Angela Lloyd

Angela is an old hand in the wine industry, her professional involvement starting in 1983, when she ran The Cape Wine Centre for liquor retailer, Drop In. Here, she organised tastings/dinners/outings for the general public, as well as starting her writing career as columnist for the Cape Times. Since 1985 she has freelanced as an independent wine writer, her choice after trying both PR and writing, but finding the two didn't mix. Commissions have come from the major South African wine magazines, various newspapers and journals, as well as recognised international publications such as The World of Fine Wine, Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide, Dorling Kindersley's Wines of the World and Delmar Learning's About Wine; she was also co-author of The South African Cellar Book.

Angela is also called upon as a judge, as a taster for the Platter Wine Guide since the 1987 edition, the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show since the inaugural 2002 event, as well as other local shows and tasting panels, and internationally on the Sydney International Wine Show, the Concours Oenologique International at Vinitaly, among others. Her love of travel has taken her as far afield as the US (but not yet South America), Australia, New Zealand, as well as most of the major European wine-producing countries. Such first hand experiences helped when she lectured on international topics for the Cape Wine Academy. Outside of wine, Angela enjoys cooking, gardening, all art forms and trying to train Syrah, an unruly young labrador.

Melvyn Minnaar

Melvyn Minnaar is a freelance writer about wine and art. His interest in these dates back to student days in Stellenbosch where education in both was readily at hand. The tension between the appeal of the vine outside and the challenge of the philosophy he studied inside resulted in the foible of enduring scepticism. He has worked in theatre and the arts, and on community cultural projects, but spends his time, these days, being outspoken about such issues. You can read his writings (in both English and Afrikaans) about art in publications like the Cape Times, Die Burger and The Weekender. He has written about wine for numerous publications, including some based in the UK and USA.

He lives in Vredehoek, a few blocks from where, a couple of years ago, a vineyard of shiraz produced the very first Cape Town wine of origin since Jan van Riebeeck's harvest three and a half centuries earlier. As he says, a sceptic always wants to be proven wrong.

Cathy van Zyl (MW)

In late 2005, Cathy van Zyl became South Africa’s first Master of Wine to have qualified from within the country (as opposed to studying abroad). Keen to share what she regards as one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences of her life, she throws heart, nose and palate into mentoring the MW candidates currently residing in South Africa, and conducting workshops at the MW programme’s second-year seminar held annually in Bordeaux. She occasionally lectures for the Cape Wine Academy, and often drags friends to wine shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg where she insists on introducing them to her favourite wines and winemakers. Cathy also judges at various venues locally and abroad, such as the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and for Wine magazine in South Africa, and the Sydney International Wine Show and the Concours Oenologique International at Vinitaly. She is one of the associate editors on Platter’s Guide; and has contributed a chapter or two, and an article or three, for a handful of international wine publications.

Cathy is married to Platter’s editor, Philip, has a cricket-and-Star-Trek-mad son, Luke, and walks her adored Staffordshire Terriers twice – yes, twice – a day come rain or shine. All this means there’s not much time for well-paying work, but she runs a small public relations consultancy with clients in the marketing and advertising and ITC industries. She’s often asked why she doesn’t consult to clients in the wine industry and the reply is always the same: tried once a long time ago, wasn’t comfortable with the potential for conflict of interest, opted for independence.