We bring you all the latest news from Ernie Els Wines.
1. Tour Pro stops by for a visit
European Tour Professional Grégory Bourdy and girlfriend Annabelle Savignan (pictured above) visited Ernie Els Wines during February. The couple were spending a week off from the tour and decided to visit Cape Town and the Winelands in between the Africa Open and the Tshwane Open. The Frenchman, fresh from hitting a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th at East London Golf Club on the way to a top-20 finish in the Africa Open, is a Bordeaux native and particularly enjoyed the Ernie Els Signature, a Bordeaux-style blend. Grégory Bourdy has eight professional career wins including four on the European Tour. For more information, please visit his official website: www.gregbourdy.com
2. This month’s feature wine: Ernie Els Proprietor’s Syrah 2012
We’ve decided to do a feature wine in this month’s newsletter. The Ernie Els Proprietor’s Syrah 2012 was released on 1st February and is definitely showing its youthful exuberance! Winemaker Louis Strydom has enjoyed many visits to the Northern Rhone and particularly enjoys the appellations of Côte Rotie, Condrieu and Crozes-Hermitage. These regions have inspired him to create this wine in a style similar to those made there. The Syrah, which solely comes from the Ernie Els Wines property, is co-fermented with 5% Viognier and is aged for 17 months – 70% in 300 litre French Oak barrels & 30% in 300 litre American Oak Barrels.
Wine Cellar – Fine Wine Merchants & Cellarers representative Roland Peens had this to report after his tasting: “The 2012 Proprietor’s Syrah immediately leaps from the glass with layers of mocha, cinnamon and dense spicy fruit. The palate shows a contrast of dried sage over maraschino cherry in an exotic, graphite-like body. Rich, glossy black and blueberry fruits stain the glass, offering powerful depth against the backdrop of mouth-coating, succulent tannins. The finish is bold and lingers for minutes with primary red fruits and a hint of fine espresso foam. Impressive now, expect 3-5 years to add more complexity and fine balance.”
For more information on this wine or sales enquiries, please email us at: info@ernieelswines.com
3. Ernie Els Wine & Dine is sublime at beautiful Erinvale Golf Club
The Ernie Els Wine team really enjoyed our first wine pairing for 2014 at the beautiful Erinvale Golf Estate. We share a special relationship with Erinvale having had them host numerous events within the Els Group including the Els for Autism Pro Am in 2012. The golf estate is located in Somerset West and has some of the most beautiful scenery around, with views of the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland mountains, as well as the Atlantic Ocean from various holes on the course.
We also share a special relationship with the whole Erinvale team; from Club manager, Anton Sloot and events co-ordinator Emma Taylor having developed the menu for the event, to Gavin Woodroffe, Director of Golf and Club Operations, him being a good friend from his days at Oubaai, an Ernie Els Design Signature Course.
The evening kicked off with a welcome glass of the Ernie Els Clubhouse Selection Sauvignon Blanc, which is the official wine of the PGA of South Africa and something that Ernie Els Wines limits to golf course clients. Anton Sloot welcomed the guests and the festivities began before introducing the Ernie Els Wines team. Ernie Els Wines Head winemaker, Louis Strydom hosted the evening and gave the guests an entertaining view on his winemaking philosophy.
A delicious three-course meal followed, paired with some of our latest releases – the Big Easy Chenin Blanc, the Ernie Els Cabernet Sauvignon and the Ernie Els Proprietors Blend. The Big Easy Chenin Blanc was a firm favourite around the room as a crisp and refreshing summer wine. Louis Strydom also treated them to a small taste of his new release of the flagship wine from the property, the Ernie Els Signature Bordeaux-style blend from the 2011 vintage. The friendly staff at Erinvale were gracious hosts and a very festive evening was enjoyed by all.
For more information about the services offered by Erinvale please visit the Club’s official website: www.erinvale.com
4. Excitement grows as 2014 Harvest gets underway
Monday, February 24th marked the first day of the 2014 harvest at Ernie Els Wines. February was a relatively warm and dry month, this bringing the start of the harvest forward by approximately a week. In comparison to 2013, this year started two days later than the previous season. The first week was spent predominantly on Merlot crushing with some young Syrah coming into the cellar as well.
The Syrah is, in fact, from block 10, a vineyard lying right alongside the eastern side of the winery. This block was planted during 2011 and this year marked its maiden harvest. The tonnages harvested during the first week are above average due to us not experiencing our usual, strong south-easterly winds during the flowering season in October and November last year and for the first time all Merlot was picked and crushed within the first week – 70 tons between February 24th and 26th, to be exact. Winemaker Louis Strydom reports that fermentation is going smoothly and the colours look especially good on the Merlot clone 348.
