Chair
Pieter De Bod
Pieter holds an Agricultural degree from the University of Stellenbosch, as well as a Certificate from the same university in tasting wine and spirit. In February 1991, he started at Stellenbosch Farmers Winery as assistant winemaker and later was appointed as the first “Brandy Expert” trainee.
Pieter began his spirit career as Production Manager at SFW in 1995. In 2003 he was promoted to Distillery Manager of the Distell Worcester distillery and later as the General Manager of Distell’s 3 brandy distilleries. Pieter is currently General Manager Spirit and Packaging at KWV and is responsible for the whole supply chain in the production and distillation of Brandy, Gin, Vodka / White spirit, RTD’s and liqueurs.
With 25 years in the spirit business, Pieter also judges on many local and international tasting panels. He was responsible for development of the NQF training material in Brandy and Spirit production and is a board member of the South African Brandy Foundation.
Recent highlights: Winner of best Brandy Trophy in 2013 (ISC), 2014 (IWSC), 2015 (ISC), 2016 (ISC), 2017(IWSC). Winner of Brandy and Cognac Producer of the Year Trophy in 2015 (ISC), 2016 (ISC), 2017 (IWSC), 2018 (ISC). Winner of Best South African London Dry Gin 2018, 2019 for KWV Cruxland Gin. Development and launch of KWV Centenary Brandy, most expensive brandy sold in South Africa.