All the latest releases, news and offers from the team at Ernie Els Wines.
1. The sun sets on another exciting year at Ernie Els Wines
And before we know it yet another year has slipped away and most of us have picked out our favourite bottles of wine, packed our holiday bags and are looking forward to spending time with the people we love. 2018 has been an interesting year for us at Ernie Els Wines. First and foremost it marks the 18th year since the first vintage of Ernie Els. Those of you with teenage children may relate this to the age your children reach adulthood and for some of us the time they leave the nest. For the golfers, it could mark the last hole of a round of golf. For us at the winery it has been a year in which new beginnings have commenced and in which we have been assured we have been doing the right things for the past 18 years.
As you probably know we closed the winery and cellar in July as we started our renovation project which will see us overhauling the tasting room and adding a brand new 120-seat restaurant with breathtaking vistas over Stellenbosch and all the way to Lions Head and Table Mountain. The project is coming along beautifully and we are still on track to open towards the end of 2019. While this project is going on it is business as usual for us and you will still be able to get all of your favourite wines through your normal channels.
Shortly after we had begun this exciting project, the awards and accolades started arriving. Firstly Tim Atkins’ scores arrived, which saw five of our wines scoring more than 90 Points. Shortly after that we were awarded as the best South African Cabernet Sauvignon at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London, with a score of Gold Outstanding (93+). The following month our Proprietors Blend 2016 was not only awarded 5 Stars in the Platter Wine Guide but was also announced as the “Red Blend of the Year”.
We hope 2018 has been as exciting a year for you as it has been for us and wish you a relaxing holiday break. We look forward to welcoming you back to Ernie Els Wines towards the end of 2019, but hope that you will keep in touch with us and follow our progress.
Until then, enjoy the wines!
2. Ernie Els Wines proud to partner with Nedbank Golf Challenge
Ernie Els Wines was the proud wine sponsor of The Nedbank Golf Challenge for the second year running. The event has a stellar reputation, forming part of the European Tour’s prestigious Rolex Series, and this year attracted no less than four major champions. The title was eventually secured by Lee Westwood after an excellent performance in Sunday’s final round.
The tournament infrastructure takes more than four months to build, mainly due to the incredible hospitality suites which are built throughout the course. To compliment the beautiful setting and superb hospitality, guests were served Ernie Els Wines throughout the suites and VIP areas. With Ernie having won the tournament three times, it is the perfect partnership between world class golf and world class wine.
3. Ernie Els Wines embarks on successful tour of Europe
As part of Ernie Els Wines ongoing commitment to sharing our finely crafted wines with the rest of the world, International Marketing Manager Tom Mills travelled to Europe to spend some time with our partners there.
His first stop was the “End of Summer” festival at Kapweine just outside of Zurich. Even though the weather may have decided that Summer was already long gone, the festival was well attended and along with a selection of some of South Africa’s finest producers he had a great time showing the wines from Ernie Els. Andy Zimmerman and his team specialise in bringing South African wines, amongst other products, into the country and have a wide selection available. The team went through great effort to create an authentic South African atmosphere to the whole affair and even went as far as setting up a number of braais attended to by a South African chef. https://www.facebook.com/kapweine
From there it was a quick trip across to the Netherlands to meet up with Albert and Anita from Kaapwijnhuis. They are based just outside Amsterdam and specialise in importing small parcels of fine wine for select private clients.
From the Netherlands Tom journeyed to Frankfurt to meet up with Martin Baulmann who had planned a tasting that evening on his roof-top terrace for invited guests and it was a beautiful evening. The wines were singing and “Baule” put on quiet a performance himself. We were able to present the entire range and received an overwhelming response from everyone in attendance. https://weinbaule.de/
The last stop for the tour was to the little town of Kampenhout just outside of Brussels. Tom was joined by a number of other wineries from South Africa and many other countries for the Kaapwijn Annual Festival. https://www.facebook.com/pg/DeLeeuwKaapwijn/ .
Peter de Leeuw has been importing wine from all over the world for the last 40 years and has built the festival into an all-out party with multiple live bands, a children’s section, art displays and food trucks. It is serious fun, while enjoying some of the finest wines available in Belgium.
“The overall response from many of the people that tasted the wines was extremely positive and we have many more exciting events planned for the 2019 calendar year,” said Tom on his return to South Africa. “We hope to be back in Europe by the end of February so that we can show some of the new vintages to our various partners and their clients.”
