Neil Ellis Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc 2024

The Producer

Neil Ellis is one of South Africa’s most respected wine names — a pioneer who’s been matching the right grapes to the right soil since the early 1980s. Based in Stellenbosch’s Jonkershoek Valley, the estate is now led by son Warren (Cape Winemakers Guild member since 2017), continuing a family tradition built on one simple idea: let the vineyard do the talking. No shortcuts, no gimmicks — just honest wine from exceptional sites. With 5 Platter’s stars four times for the Jonkershoek Cabernet and a track record of 90+ ratings from Tim Atkin MW, James Suckling and Wine Spectator, this is a cellar that defines South African quality winemaking.

Vintage & Terroir

The Groenekloof ward sits on the western edge of the Darling hills, where the Atlantic Ocean sends cool breezes rolling across the vineyards every afternoon. The Contreberg Farm — the same property Neil Ellis has sourced from since 1990 — produces Sauvignon Blanc of extraordinary intensity and mineral precision. The combination of decomposed granite soils, maritime influence, and constant wind stress creates fruit with natural concentration and a signature flinty, almost saline character you simply cannot replicate anywhere else. Tim Atkin MW once described this as “his best wine” — and when you taste what 30+ years of one man’s dedication to a single site can produce, you’ll understand why. Greg de Bruyn, tasting the 2024 for the Platter Guide, notes the “typical dusty-grassy platform” — that unmistakable Groenekloof fingerprint that marks this site out as one of the Cape’s finest Sauvignon Blanc terroirs.

In the Cellar

Cool stainless-steel fermentation preserves every ounce of aromatic intensity, followed by extended lees contact to build texture and complexity. Warren Ellis keeps intervention to a minimum here — the vineyard does the heavy lifting. The goal is a wine that tastes of place, not process. After more than three decades sourcing from this site, the winemaker knows exactly what to leave alone.

Tasting Notes

Pale straw with brilliant green-gold highlights. The nose explodes with passion fruit, gooseberry, pink grapefruit and lime zest, layered with flinty minerality and a distinctive wet-stone character that marks out Groenekloof from every other Sauvignon Blanc site in the Cape. The palate is electric — bright, racy acidity drives flavours of tropical fruit, green fig and citrus across a long, mineral-driven finish. There’s a salinity here too, a whisper of sea spray that adds complexity and keeps you coming back for more.

Platter’s 4.5 Stars (94 Points) — the highest-rated Neil Ellis wine in the current guide. Greg de Bruyn writes: “Bursts with youthful vigour, luscious gooseberry & greengage fruit. Should equal or surpass 2024, retasted as bottled wine this edition.” The previewed 2025 already scored 92 points — proof that this site just keeps delivering. Add Tim Atkin MW’s 92 points, IWC Silver, and the coveted 5 Platter’s stars (2015), and this is a Sauvignon Blanc with three decades of trophy-level pedigree, including Veritas Double Gold (2002) and Wine Spectator 90.

Food Pairing

A natural match for fresh West Coast oysters, grilled crayfish, seared linefish with a lemon-butter sauce, or a classic prawn linguine. Also superb with goat’s cheese salad, green asparagus, or Thai green curry where the wine’s acidity cuts through richness beautifully. Serve well chilled at 8–10 °C. Drinking brilliantly now with enough complexity and acidity for it to develop further.

Technical Details

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