Neil Ellis Chardonnay Whitehall Elgin 2021

Chardonnay Saturday!!! Under $20 on one spectacular, single-vineyard chardonnay boasting a noggin-bursting 97 POINTS!!! This is NOT a drill! Go, go, GOOOO!!!

I am a GOLDEN GOD! Or at least, that’s what I was screaming from the rooftop of my neighbor’s garage last night after I took the rest of this bottle home and downed it with a bowl of cider vinegar popcorn. Don’t worry, he loves "Almost Famous" nearly as much as I do – so three bottles of this coming his way, and all is forgiven. Wait…where was I? Right…THIS WINE!

If you don’t know Neil Ellis already – book yourself the world’s longest flight to Cape Town, South Africa. Rent a 4x4 and head east for 40 minutes into Stellenbosch, continue up onto the R310 and Helshoogte Road, look for the winery, and prepare to be STUNNED! This just might be the best chardonnay I’ve tasted in all of AFRICA – and a dead-ringer for Premier Cru level White Burgundy. At WHAT price?! 

Just $19, folks. Oh…YES!!! Flinty, matchstick-y essence, followed in waves by lemon balm, lime zest, bruleed grapefruit, lemongrass, ginger, and…AND! A careless whisper of baked apple pie goes WHAM! – then let the bad juju of previous South African chardonnays be vanquished with smoldering sage and uplifting ZING of fresh spearmint. There’s a creamy depth to this polished and plush beauty – as close to a doppelganger for Premier Cru White Burgundy as I’ve tasted this year (and that’s out of hundreds of hopefuls!). For OVER 60% OFF – has the world gone MAD?! Oh, just me? I’m cool with that. Anywho… GET SOME!

The folks at Neil Ellis have been building their legacy since 1984 – and this OG vineyard known as Elgin, is the COOLEST spot in the entire Western Cape. It’s a mountain plateau, surrounded by even higher peaks, that just so happens to fall about a mile from Gordon’s Bay and the Atlantic Ocean! These south-facing slopes are flush with mineral-laden white sandstone and quartz on a clay sub-base…kind of sounds a bit like Burgundy, no? Toss in 100% barrel fermentation (30% new), with about 20% of the wine going through malolactic fermentation – and we South Africa’s answer to White Burgundy! I said 97 POINTS, right? Load up on this, fine people – you’re going to be blown away!!!

** Please – don’t drink most of a bottle and try to climb on any roofs – even if it is with the noble intention of proclaiming to the heavens how KILLER this wine is…I’m a professional, folks. It takes years of training. **