Neil Ellis Wines (Pty) Ltd.

Established: 1986
Total production: 40,000 cases
Winemaker: Neil Ellis

"This is an exercise in quality and nothing less. "

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.

"Neil Ellis Wines is a partnership--unparalleled in South African wine--among a close-knit team of talented people."

In the very year Neil Ellis set out as a negociant, 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 partner and winemaker Invariably thought of as an individualist wine-entrepreneur, Neil in fact launched his career in the corporate environment (with KWV, then South Africa's biggest wine co-operative) before taking up residency at the historic Groot constantia Estate. Neil then migrated to Zevenwacht, rapidly putting that newly-built cellar on the wine-map. Neil then went freelance, leasing cellar space near Stellenbosch until 1993.

Hans Peter Schroder partner Hans returned to his home-town of Stellenbosch in the late 1980s after an extended sojourn in the Far East. His great passion for wine propelled him to acquire an estate of his own. With characteristic prescience Hans singled out a property in one of Stellenbosch's premier wine areas--Jonkershoek Valley--where conducive soils and climate all but guarantee superior-quality fruit. Believing that a joint-venture with an established front-rank winemaker was the route to follow, Hans and Neil formed the partnership, Neil Ellis Wines, in 1993.