Neil Ellis Wines

In 1986 Neil Ellis took a calculated leap of faith into the wine-negociant arena, buying and vinifying grapes from selected vineyards and marketing these hand-reared wines under his own label.

Mindful that exceptional terroir and assiduous vineyard cultivation form the bedrock of great wine, Neil forged long-term supply partnerships with top grape-growers in premium areas. Today the same philosophy--sourcing superior grapes from low-yielding, hand-selected vineyard lots in the Cape's top terroirs--remains the mainstay of our wines.

In the very year Neil Ellis set out as a negotiant, his future partner Hans Peter Schroder purchased the Stellenbosch wine estate, Oude Nektar, in the spectacular, viticulturally-ideal Jonkershoek Valley. This coincidence gained fresh resonance some years later when Neil and Hans finally met. Neil, recipient of many accolades since flying solo, had outgrown his leased cellar; Hans, in search of a like-minded partner for a quality-focused winery, had extensive cellar facilities (and, moreover, prime-quality grapes). From this synergy emerged a unique joint venture: Neil Ellis Wines.

Neil Ellis Wines differs from most South African wineries in that instead of owning vineyards we have focused on producing the best wine possible and sourcing the grapes from top quality growers.

Recognizing that different grape varieties thrive under different soil and climate conditions which are not likely to be found on a single estate, from our company's start our philosophy has been to locate those areas that produce a distinctive grape quality and work closely with quality-minded growers in those areas. Today our grapes come from three main vineyard sites: Oude Nektar Farm in Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch; Contreberg Farm in Groenekloof, Darling; the Whitehall farm in Elgin.

The 40ha of vines on Oude Nektar are the primary source for our red wines. Most of Jonkershoek Valley is a nature reserve, well-known for its fynbos, hiking trails and waterfalls, but at the mouth of the valley sit a few farms privileged to its unique micro-climate. The inner valley is known to have the highest rainfall in South Africa and in an average year Oude Nektar receives about 1200mm (although in the last three years of drought we have been closer to 900mm). The soils are mostly deep, red, clay soils. We initiated a complete replanting program in 1989 which was completed with a final 3-hectare block of shiraz.

Recognizing the unique quality of the grapes from the Groenekloof ward, in 1996 Neil Ellis Wines entered into a partnership with Alex Versveld to farm the 120ha Contreberg farm which is the source of our Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc. Groenekloof is situated near Darling on the West Coast and here the hills rise to 385 metres above sea level. The vineyards are only 8 km from the cold Southern Atlantic with its cool prevailing southwesterly winds. Soils are deep, red, decomposed granite and produce lively, complex Sauvignon Blanc wines. This area has particularly consistent weather.

Elgin is the Cape's coolest viticultural area (Region I-II on the Winkler system) and has a unique climate and topography, consisting of an upland basin plateau, surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. This region shows climatic similarities to Burgundy, only slightly cooler by comparison. Elgin tends to show more vintage difference than most other South African viticultural areas.