{"id":15883,"date":"2011-01-13T10:09:13","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T08:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=15883"},"modified":"2011-04-28T13:07:50","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T11:07:50","slug":"neil-ellis-wines-moves-to-new-helshoogte-pass-tasting-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/neil-ellis-wines-moves-to-new-helshoogte-pass-tasting-room\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Ellis Wines moves to new Helshoogte Pass Tasting Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Helshoogte Pass area has become an interesting destination, with strong restaurants (Delaire Graff Restaurant<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Indochine<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0and Tokara<\/a>), and even more so\u00a0with the opening just over a month ago of the new Neil Ellis Wines tasting room and cellar, at the start of the pass which links Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and which is already home to the Delaire Graff, Clouds, Thelema, Alluvia, Camberley\u00a0and Tokara wine estates.\u00a0\u00a0 A visit to the tasting room a week ago was disappointing,\u00a0the staff seeming hesitant to provide information.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was particularly interested in visiting the Tasting Room, when I noticed the brown tourism sign, as I had the luck of being in the same class as Neil at Huguenot High School in Wellington many moons ago.\u00a0 He was the quietest person in our class, and we never would have guessed that Neil would become the best-known class member one day!<\/p>\n

The Tasting Room and cellar is a generous sized building, rather industrial and functional looking from outside, quite unlike most other such facilities.\u00a0 Ample parking is available.\u00a0\u00a0 One can see the effect of the strong southeaster on the plants outside the building,\u00a0and although chosen to be hardy,\u00a0many have perished due to the wind.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the 40\u00b0C day, the airconditioning inside was wonderfully cool.\u00a0\u00a0 The interior space is extremely large, with a tasting desk in an L-shape, which leads one down the passage to a\u00a0large tasting room.\u00a0\u00a0 The high chairs around the tasting desk are made from a Scandinavian-looking wood, with interesting red mesh seating.\u00a0\u00a0The many\u00a0awards won are displayed on\u00a0a wall.\u00a0\u00a0 Behind the tasting desk is an interesting ‘drawing’ painted on the wall itself, running almost the full length of the wall, by Lorenzo Nassimbeni, and depicts the mountain and the Neil Ellis Wines building.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I asked for a brochure and more information, and the two ladies on duty seemed quite hesitant about providing it, blaming this on their move to the Tasting Room about 6 weeks ago.\u00a0\u00a0 Previously the tasting facility was on a property in Jonkershoek, which belongs to Hans-Peter Schr\u00f6der.\u00a0\u00a0Neil Ellis started making wines in 1986, and his association with Schr\u00f6der started in 1993, with the establishment of Neil Ellis Wines.\u00a0\u00a0 The new tasting venue and cellar is on another Schr\u00f6der property.\u00a0\u00a0 To make his wines, Neil sources grapes from Stellenbosch, Elgin, Darling and Somerset West, and I did learn that he was the first winemaker in South Africa to source grapes from other regions.\u00a0 Neil’s son Warren is the viticulturist and is following in his dad’s footsteps as a winemaker.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>At the tasting room one can taste out of a selection of\u00a0seven wines at R25.\u00a0\u00a0 These are the red range – Neil Ellis Aenigma 2007, Shiraz 2009, and Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2008, all costing R90, and Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (R120).\u00a0\u00a0 The white range available for tasting and buying is Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc 2010 (R75), Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2010 (R85), and Elgin Chardonnay 2009 (R120).\u00a0 Neil Ellis Werner N\u00e4kel, a partnership with a German winemaker, selling for R200, was marked as sold out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Other wines to buy, but not available to taste, are the Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Syrah 2006 and Pinotage 2008, all costing R200, and the Sauvignon Blanc 2009, at R120.\u00a0\u00a0 Some export wine brands are also made, called Left Bank, a Bordeaux Blend exported to the USA; Inglewood, exported to Europe; and Sincerely, also exported to the USA.\u00a0\u00a0 Mr Schr\u00f6der does the international marketing of Neil Ellis Wines, I was told.<\/p>\n

If I was just a visitor driving in due to the signage, and did not know better about the calibre of the wines Neil Ellis makes and his stature in the wine industry, I would have found the visit disappointing due to the lack of energy of the staff in providing information or in encouraging me to taste the wines.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neil Ellis Wines<\/strong>, Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch.\u00a0 Tel (021) 887-0649.\u00a0\u00a0 www.neilellis.com<\/a>\u00a0 Open\u00a0 Monday – Friday 9h30 – 16h30, Saturday 10h00 – 14h00.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Helshoogte Pass area has become an interesting destination, with strong restaurants (Delaire Graff Restaurant, Indochine\u00a0and Tokara), and even more so\u00a0with the opening just over a month ago of the new Neil Ellis Wines tasting room and cellar, at the start of the pass which links Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and which is already home to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,31,21,19],"tags":[9464,9465,7949,32378,8048,5066,1736,32379,32369,9467,1688,9466,9472,9474,9471,814,9470,9462,13,9473,32398,32376,2689,9463,403,59,9469,9468,32385,32373,572],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t