Ernie Els Wines rated top of their game for fourth year in a row

Date: 19/10/2005
Author: Press Release - Chris Mitchell

Ernie Els Wines have once again proved they are at the top of their game with the recent announcement of a 90-plus rating – for the fourth consecutive year – in Wine Spectator, one of the world’s foremost wine magazines.

The Wine Spectator gave the Ernie Els 2003 yet another exceptionally high ” rating in their most recent edition which profiles and rates the world’s finest wines. With arguably the largest circulation of any wine magazine in the world and an international distribution, the publication is considered an extremely influential forum among international wine guides.

In 2002 the Wine Spectator gave the first vintage of Ernie Els wines the highest rating ever received for a South African red wine. Since then the Wine Spectator has annually rated successive Ernie Els vintages in the 90-plus category.

The October 2005 edition described the 2003 vintage as “very rich, with layers of black currant, fig, black tea, cocoa and tar that pump through from start to finish. Plenty of ripe structure adds length and depth to the dark, rich, meaty finish”.

A classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot varietals, the celebrated wine has also received some of South Africa’s most prestigious ratings, including five-stars in recent editions of the John Platter Wine Guide.

The wine is the product of a long-standing friendship between Els and Jean Engelbrecht. The friends entered a wine-making partnership 1999 and soon after launched the Ernie Els red in 2000. Since then they have opened Engelbrecht Els Vineyards, a 72-hectare farm at the foot of the Helderberg mountains, and have gone on to launch other acclaimed brands of red wine that include Engelbrecht Els proprietor’s blend and the Guardian Peak range.

Co-proprietor, Jean Engelbrecht said the latest Wine Spectator rating once again shows that South Africa can produce quality wines that are internationally relevant in this modern day and age.

“I believe that blended red wines and Shiraz are the way forward for South Africa and in order to achieve what we are all pursuing, Stellenbosch should be the choice of terroir. I also credit our winemaker Louis Strydom for his commitment and hard work in creating wines that we are extremely proud of, in fact I credit our entire team for their incredible efforts,” said Engelbrecht.

The partners were delighted with the rating and paid tribute to Louis Strydom for the consistency he has achieved with the wines. Els maintains that achieving consistency in wine is just as important as achieving consistency in golf and said that every year this becomes more difficult.

“Through my golf I travel the world and it is great to see how well South African wines are being received. Every year I can see that there is more knowledge and more excitement about the wines from our country and as a South African it makes me very proud to be associated with the industry and our wines,” said Els from his home in London where he’s recovering from knee surgery.