Brewer (Grier), Cathy

Year Qualified: 1996

Cathy married Julian Brewer in 1998 and has a son, Robin, born in 2000. She works in their family business, Villiera Wines, as sales and marketing director, with Jeff Grier CWM (brother and winemaker) and Simon Grier (cousin and viticulturist). The farm was purchased in 1983.

Cathy completed the Cape Wine Academy Diploma in 1990 and became a Cape Wine Master in 1994. The topic of her research project was “A complete guide to exporting wine from South Africa”. This topic was of interest to her as she was involved in exporting wine, but had never quite had the time to figure out the whole process.

The project gave her the opportunity to visit all departments involved and to put a flow diagram together. She learned a lot and so did many others, as many years later, she still get calls for assistance. When travelling overseas, she promotes the SA wine industry as a whole as well as her own products. Her business travels frequently take her to other wine regions of the world including Italy, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. As soon as her son reaches an age where he can travel and appreciate the finer things in life, she would love to revisit Spain, Portugal and regions of France not yet visited. Villiera Wines invested in a small vineyard in the South of France (Roussillon) and the first vintage there was in 2006.

Her special areas of wine interest are Champagne, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Merlot and Shiraz.

Dissertation Topic

A practical guide to exporting bottled wines from South Africa