“I have a simple and minimal-intervention approach to winemaking,” Farmer says. “I believe that great wines are made in the vineyard. Year on year, I aim to better understand our vineyards and soils to make the work in the cellar easier.”

That philosophy isn’t aesthetic posturing. It’s discipline.
By her mid-twenties, Kiara Scott Farmer was already that winemaker.
Her rise was swift. By 26, she had become South Africa’s youngest winemaker to be appointed Head Winemaker, entrusted with one of the country’s most established legacy wines. Awards and industry recognition followed—less as spectacle, more as confirmation.

Raised outside Cape Town, South Africa’s wine capital, Farmer grew up in a household where alcohol wasn’t consumed. There were no vineyards in her childhood, no inherited wine culture, no early access to the industry’s informal networks. In that sense, her path mirrors that of several of South Africa’s most respected Black winemakers, including Ntsiki Biyela of Aslina Wines and Tinashe Nyamudoka of Kumusha Wines—figures who entered the industry without legacy or land, and built credibility through persistence and skill. Their success is remarkable precisely because it remains rare.

Structural barriers to entry in South African wine are well documented. “Land ownership and access to high-quality fruit has been notoriously difficult in South Africa due to historical and socioeconomic factors,” says Mags Janjo, founder of UK-based MJ Wine Cellars. “It’s hard enough for someone who comes from money to make it as a South African winemaker, let alone people from marginalised groups.”

Programs like the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme have begun to address these gaps, supporting talent from historically excluded communities. And a new generation is paying close attention—taking cues from those who came before while pushing the industry to respond. Farmer is keenly aware of her position within that continuum.

“It’s incredibly comforting now to chat to the new generation of young female winemakers entering the industry and see them owning what it took many of us years to realise, You don’t have to change who you are to be accepted, and you certainly don’t have to follow someone else’s path.”

That clarity carries through to her own wines

That clarity carries through to her own wines.Released through Nice Beverage Co., Leave It With Me is composed and assured. A chillable red with structure that doesn’t shout, it’s fresh enough to open without occasion and serious enough to stay at the table. It adapts—dinner, conversation, late evening—without losing itself..

This wine sells confidence. Not bravado. Not performance.

Say Less follows with a different energy and the same intent. Bright, clean, and precise, it’s a white wine that’s expressive without being loud, fresh without being fragile. It does what it needs to do—and stops. Different tones. Same principle: trust the drinker.

Both wines are available now at Pompette Wines & Spirits. Beginning February 4, Say Less will also be available by the bottle at Musette Wine Bar and featured in the new Her Harvest wine flight—three wines produced by Black female winemakers from South Africa.