A visit to the beautiful Ernie Els Wines in Stellenbosch

I recently dragged my bestie Leigh out for a little winelands excursion… This was despite the fact that we had gone a bit overboard the night before and felt like absolute death…  Was it worth it? A very big hellz yes.  Where did we go?  The oh-so-beautiful Ernie Els Wines in Stellenbosch.

Turns out all that fresh air and loveliness was exactly what the doctor ordered and within minutes of arriving we were are sparkly again.

From the moment you cross the little wooden walkway covering the prettiest koi pond, you just know you’re in for something quite special.  From there things just get more breathtaking as you walk through the elegant entrance hall and out onto their patio which overlooks the Stellenbosch winelands.  Golf lovers (or even golf “newbies”) can even take a swing at their mini golfing green – a nod to Ernie and his very successful golfing career of course.

Now I’m not going to bore you with too many background facts, for those who love all the nitty-gritty, do visit their website (link included above).  Instead I’m going to ask you to sit back and relax while you take all of this in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But seriously, so beautiful right?

We were also very lucky to get a tour of Ernie’s trophy room where you can get a look at some top quality replicas of the coveted trophies he’s won during this career.

It’s quite an impressive room, as you’ll see…

 

 
Then we also got a cellar tour & a quick peek at Ernie’s private wine collection which includes both top local wines as well as a selection of his favourite international wines from all his travels.

 
We then settled in for a wine tasting and lunch with what can only be described as one helluva view.  We kicked things off with the crisp Ernie Els Big Easy White which is 100% Chenin Blanc before moving on to the Ernie Els Sauvnignon Blanc.  Both are very easy drinking and made for the perfect option on a such a hot summer’s day.

We then also sampled the Big Easy Rose (loved this one too), before moving onto the reds (which we had with our meal seeing as both of us opted for a meaty dish).

 
The lunch menu is a rather simple one with only 6 options ranging in price from R80 – R170.  It’s a seasonal menu & they don’t do desserts, so that’s just something to note if you do happen to have a big sweet tooth.

Me being the typical “just bring me meat” Afrikaans meisie, the beef sirloin with hand cut wedges, leek puree, gremolata & onion rings (R130) was the obvious choice. Leigh’s body was craving a burger, so she went for the beef burger with garlic aioli, bacon, brown mushroom, crispy onions and feta cheese (R95).

We also decided to finish things off by sharing their cheese & charcuterie platter for one (R80), just as an extra nibble:

 
In the food stakes, that burger definitely won. My steak was delicious as well, but that burger was jam-packed with flavour for sure. Oh and my goodness, that bread which they serve with the cheese platter will have you making inappropriate happiness noises at the table.  Banting for what?

We really had the most amazing day at Ernie Els Wines. The team there is super lovely, the service was good (albeit a little slow – but that just gives you more time to appreciate your surroundings), and the food was what I’d describe as classy comfort food – nothing too fussy & good flavours.

On my  Miss K Kiss-o-Meter scale, I’m going to break it down as follows:

• The estate & the wines: 
• The food:

To pay them a visit (and I highly recommend that you do), take note of the follows NB details:

• They’re open:  Mondays – Saturdays, 09:00 – 17:00
• They’re located on:  Annandale Road, Stellenbosch
• And you can contact them on: +27 (0) 21 881 3588 or info@ernieelswines.com

And then I’m going to wrap up by just saying:  Thank you for having us Ernie Els Wines!  You made our hangovers disappear in a flash & we’ll definitely be back.

xxx