Tag Archives: Neil Ellis

South Africa’s most highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon in 2022

‘EXTRAORDINARY. Profound.’ That’s what the Winemag judges thought of Koelenhof Winery’s ‘Stellenbosch 1679’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 when reviewing it for the 2022 Prescient Report. The only wine among the 64 entries from 51 SA producers scored more than 95/100, it’s one of the 24 most highly rated Cape Cabs assessed by top panels locally and internationally during the past year

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South Africa’s most highly rated Chardonnays in 2022 to date

NOT A SINGLE Chardonnay considered better than 94/100 in Winemag’s 2022 Prescient Report on the category in South Africa? In the collective opinion of editor Christian Eedes and his fellow judges on the panel, James Pietersen and Jolette Steyn of retailer Wine Cellar in Cape Town, there weren’t any ‘extraordinary’ or ‘profound’ examples among the 80 wines from the 59

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Some Veritas champs recommended by more than one panel …

OF THE 95 wines judged worthy of double gold medals at South Africa’s 2022 Veritas Awards, there are 19 standouts on the basis of various tasting results… 95 is a big number, and the organisers won’t publish the scores, which range from 93 to 100, i.e. they tell the respective wine producers who entered the wines, but they won’t tell

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Under R100 for a bottle of one of the Top 10 Pinotage!

GO PULPIT ROCK! At just R90pb, the Brink Family Vineyards 2019 from the Pulpit Rock winery in Riebeek West is one of the standouts among the 2022 Absa Top 10 Pinotage Award winners. Windmeul of Paarl is the closest contender in terms of ‘best bang for your buck’ – R150pb for their 2019 Reserve but a track record impressive enough

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Whitehall Chardonnay has aficionados smiling internationally

THE 2020 VINTAGE of Neil Ellis’s Whitehall Chardonnay had only been on the market for a few months when it was included among the Top 4 in Winemag‘s 2021 South African Chardonnay Report. By the end of the year it had been Highly Recommended in Platter‘s SA Wine Guide, and after some more time in bottle it was considered 95+ on

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IWC judges prefer top SA Pinot Noir to top SA Cab, Shiraz…

THE PRICE of over R1000 a bottle puts Bouchard Finlayson’s flagship Pinot Noir from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley into the realm of South Africa’s luxury wines, although for less than half that you can get the same vintage of their Galpin Peak. In fact it wasn’t that long ago that the “cameo selection” Tête de Cuvée also carried the name Galpin

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Neil Ellis Chardonnay leads South African charge at IWC

NOW IN ITS 38th year, the International Wine Challenge (IWC) is one of the world’s most rigorous wine competitions. Every medal winner is assessed ‘blind’ on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of two panels of judges tasting together, and then again by two of the show’s co-chairs, who in 2022 comprised Tim Atkin MW, Sam Caporn MW,

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Winemag Chardonnay Report points to many outstanding wines, however

MOST OF the South African wines assessed for Winemag’s 2021 Prescient Chardonnay Report were from grapes harvested in 2020, which the judges felt was “a slightly lesser vintage” relative to 2019 when it comes to this variety,  “the wines not having the same fruit concentration”. Their absolute favourites of the 93 Chardonnays submitted by 67 producers were: from Stellenbosch cellars,

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And then there were 20… The 2021 Top 10 Pinotage Competition Finalists

IN A SOMEWHAT quiet build-up, the names of the finalists in the Pinotage Association’s 2021 Absa Top 10 competition were disclosed via social media without so much as a tweet! Twenty wines from 16 producers – Beeslaar, Beyerskloof, Diemersdal and Rijk’s each making the cut with two of their beauties among the many entries from various parts of the Cape winelands.

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Showcasing “superior” Syrah from the foot of Africa – Shiraz SA

THE ONLINE award presentation was a rather dumbed-down affair, not without technical hiccups, but the panel of judges for the 2021 Challenge convened by the industry association Shiraz SA was strong on experience. Among the selectors were Cape Wine Masters Andy Roediger (chair for the ninth year) and Paul Benadé, cellarmasters Frans Smit (Spier) and Richard Kershaw MW, as well

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Boschendal and Groot Constantia among world’s very best at IWC 2020

IN THE LAST of the world’s major wine competitions of the year, Boschendal (Franschhoek) and Groot Constantia (Cape Town) scooped two of the top trophies going – Boschendal Elgin Chardonnay 2018 named top South African White Wine and Groot Constantia Sauvignon Blanc 2019 judged best Sauvignon Blanc. Period. This was the first time in 10 years that the top Sauvignon

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Almenkerk Syrah honoured as a revelation at Mondial, Switzerland

  THERE were 9150 wines from 46 countries judged at the 2019 edition of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in Aigle, Switzerland. Spain won 626 medals, followed by France (614), Italy (383) and Portugal (365). The host country won 172 awards and South Africa was also among the 10 most successful wine-producing nations in the competion, with a medal haul of

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Neil Ellis Jonkershoek Cabernet remains on upward trajectory

OVER the past couple of years, has there been a South African Cabernet Sauvignon producer more successful on the world stage than the Ellis family on the Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch? Their current-release 2015 Jonkershoek Cab won gold medals at the Decanter awards and International Wine Challenge (IWC) after one of the most outstanding reviews on Winemag.co.za – this after the 2014

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Stellenrust waves the flag for SA Chenin at International Wine Challenge

THE COMPETITION is unusual insofar as the assessments are done and the medallists announced in two tranches six months apart, followed weeks later by news of various trophy winners, and a couple of months after that by an awards dinner at which the top trophies are presented. One of the biggest events of its kind as regards the thousands of

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Nederburg Manor House top of the class in Winemag Cabernet Report

NO FEWER than 34 of the 89 wines reviewed for the 2018 Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report were considered excellent (90 to 92 points on the 100-point scale). Better still, six more of South Africa’s beauties were regarded as outstanding (93 to 95). And interestingly, the judges’ favourite on the day is from outside Stellenbosch! Full report here. TOP 6 IN

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Contenders for 2017 SA Winemaker of the Year include great ‘engineers’

“THE 2000 hectares of old vines that South Africa has is important… It’s part of our history, part of our future, but it’s not going to take our industry forward… What about the other 95 000 hectares!” So reasons Bruwer Raats, applauded as top producer in Platter’s SA Wine Guide, champion of the varieties Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, outspoken winemaker

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Spier 21 Gables Chenin declared SA Champion Wine – Veritas Awards

THE VERTEX Award for the highest-scoring wine at the Veritas Awards has gone to Spier – the first time that a single ‘South African Champion’ has been honoured in this way since the inaugural event in 1990. Plus, the Stellenbosch cellar was the most successful winery on show, collecting six double gold medals, nine golds as well as plenty of

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Two trophies for Neil Ellis Pinotage at 21st edition of Absa Top 10

THE 2017 ABSA Top 10 Pinotage competition culminated with the presentation of trophies to winning wine producers at Cavalli estate outside Somerset West. The event commemorated 21 years of the Pinotage Association’s competition that contributes to setting benchmarks as regards South Africa’s most successful ‘indigenous’ variety. There were 147 entries and the laureates were applauded as fine ambassadors of Wine

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Boschendal and Paul Cluver take top trophies at IWC 2017, London

TWENTY-THREE gold medals to South African wines with seven beauties going on to win trophies at the 2017 International Wine Challenge in London. Some are recent vintages of wines with great track records, such as Cape Point’s flagship white blend, DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin, Bouchard Finlayson Pinot, Stellenrust Chenin and those champions from Paul Cluver and Saronsberg that feature regularly in the

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Going solo and doing just fine… Interesting single-varietal Grenache proffered by growing number of top SA wine cellars not content with blended wines only

COULD wine lovers take a big liking to South African red wines made solely from Grenache? It’s early days still, but notable how many leading cellars in the Cape have warmed to this variety, widely planted in Spain and France, typically used in Rhône-style, Shiraz-led blends but also making for very respectable single-varietal wines. That SA Grenache on its own

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