The Sommelier

Given the choice of 10 000 wines - how do you choose?

We are often confronted with the question: What wine would you suggest? A simple question perhaps, but one that demands another question (or 5) in answer. What’s your budget? - chief among them. Red / White / Pink / Bubbles? Preferred country? Preferred wine region, appellation, producer, varietal? I mean, as questions go, it’s a loaded one. A wine in isolation, also tricky, because wine drinking and wine appreciation require GROUNDWORK. One can only ascertain the success of one wine by comparison with another or KNOWLEDGE of another, and so when I am confronted with THAT question, I tend to preface it with: “Within my own limited scope of experience, I MIGHT suggest the following…” Because the business of selling wine is like Burgundy, the more you know, the more you come to realise you know nothing at all…unless you have a sommelier, and a curated cellar. 

Competitively World-Class

Wayve Kolevsohn is the sommelier at Ellerman House and has been for the past two years. She is in charge of their illustrious, more than 10 000 bottle cellar, a veritable treasure chest by her own admission and one that we have been granted a tiny sliver of insight to. Wayve’s experience within the wine industry explains how she ended up at one of Cape Town’s most exclusive hotels, housing one of the biggest collections of African art in one place (not to mention the wine), and offering some of the city’s most luxurious accommodation, set as it is on the covetable cliffs of Bantry Bay overlooking the Atlantic Seaboard. Created by Paul Harris, a South African businessman with a pretty big background in finance, Ellerman House was built to showcase only the finest South Africa has to offer - which given our experience, is competitively world-class. 

A Sommelier

Wayve started out in London at Chez Bruce, a Michelin star restaurant in Wandsworth, which offered the initial spark to her wine obsession. She then worked under Margot Jansen at Le Quartier Francais when it was still one of the only South African restaurants on the Top 50 Restaurants of the World list. This is where she discovered her talent in wine service and was awarded 2nd and then 1st place two consecutive years, competing for the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award. She went on to attain her Court of Master Sommeliers certification and became the head sommelier at the Test Kitchen for three years, working closely with Luke Dale Roberts in curating the Michelin-star 12 course pairing menu. She then moved to the Maldives where she worked at the sister property of Château Cheval Blanc for two years, a 47 villa private island that she can only describe as the best wine experience of her life. Here she was able to taste the best of the best, something that will act as a benchmark in her wine career forever. After two years abroad Wayve returned home, doing a stint of work with Exanimo under David Clark and working a harvest with Tremayne Smith at Fable Mountains, under his own Blacksmith label. All of THAT making her a pretty solid choice in curating one of South Africa’s most important wine collections - no? 

The Collection

Of the collection Wayve says it has been curated for Ellerman House clientele - essentially well-heeled international travellers interested in discovering only the best local wines, making the majority of the collection some of South Africa’s most illustrious wines. Now, the art of cellaring is a very precise one, for as Wayve explains there is an element of maturation and timing that dictates the collection. Almost like a living organism, wines are curated over the years and the wine list updated regularly to ensure customers are drinking perfectly matured wines at optimal times. Wayve counts and tastes and organises these wines every month to keep a finger on the pulse, with her own Dewey-Decimal system (or Wayve’s-Wine System) to find what she’s looking for. Temperatures are rigidly controlled, with timers and alarms installed to note any discrepancies, guaranteeing the quality of the wines. As sommeliers move on, as in the case of the previous head sommelier (now head of operations) Manuel Cabello, the goal is to leave behind a steadily maturing cellar to act as a foundation for the future. His legacy includes several auction wines, predominantly sourced from the Cape Winemaker’s Guild Auction, and including illusive wines that have rarely been made available to the public. Included in the mix of South African wines, the collection houses a sizeable Champagne offering made-up of some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Dom Pérignon. In fact, they have a tasting table in the cellar made from the actual Champagne chalk soils with precise imprints of a Dom Pérignon bottle bottom to avoid slippage. 

The Ellerman

One of Manuel’s other legacy projects has been the creation of The Ellerman wine range, now only in its second vintage, it currently includes a red blend by Erika Obermeyer, the goal being for the range to expand through collaborations with key winemakers. Erika’s style and proven abilities just so resonated with the brand, creating something without compromise, not too over the top, but luxuriously effortless. The first vintage was awarded a 5 star Platter rating right off the bat: “Well-judged tannin & oak cradle savoury fruit, gently extend finish of complex, sophisticated 2018. Drinks well now (as befits wine on hotel winelist) but classic styling, structure augur well for cellaring.” A good start to what is set to be a stellar range of wines. Wayve is also currently MAKING wine with boyfriend Jacques de Klerk of Radford Dale from organically farmed Chardonnay she found in Elgin - and we’re keeping an eye out to see if it makes the cut!

The Gatekeepers

I like sommeliers. They’re people’s-people, hardworking (since Covid Wayve has fulfilled the role of the restaurant manager and all-rounder), they KNOW the producers, they love the wine, and most importantly they act as gatekeepers to the industry. Johann Krige told me once that Pinotage was a hand-sell, and he had to go and educate international sommeliers on it for it to gain traction abroad. Sommeliers are such a valuable part of the industry, given how difficult it is to actually SELL wine- they do the groundwork. As the whole hospitality industry continues to reel from the effects of Covid, especially luxury establishments such as this, dependent on international travellers, they look to other channels of distribution and experiences to keep their doors open. We at Port2Port were understandably eager to offer these wines a way to market and offer YOU the opportunity to acquire rare, perfectly curated, perfectly cellared wines from such a reputable source. But also as a way to keep establishments such as these ALIVE - it is our duty and our honour. 

P.S. Ellerman house is now open to the public for wine tastings and restaurant bookings, therefore do not hesitate to book. Phone: +27 21 430 3200