South African safari with Elsie Pells, CWM (Cape Wine Master)

Elsie was a founder member, in 1983, of The Jonkershuis Wine Tasters based at Spier with   the owner of the farm, Niel Joubert as patron. This is still an active tasting circle. Great figures in the South African wine landscape, such as Frans Malan, Spatz Sperling and Niel Joubert became mentors. The passion kindled here resulted in a career change in 1998 from professional musician to actively working in the wine industry.

Elsie became a Cape Wine Master in 2000 with a research project entitles "Brandy in South Africa".

She was with NMK Shultz Wine Distribution in Johannesburg and Cape Town between 2004 and June 2009.
Elsie left NMK Schultz in June 2009. She is now based in Prague as a consultant to the House of Wine, marketing the South African wine brand - PHANT - which is exported to the Czech Republic and other Eastern European Countries. Phant is distributed to over 320 on-consumption venues.
She also imports small quantities of specialty South African wines such as Kaapzicht, Marklew, and Clos Malverne, which are sold to corporate and private clients. In addition, Elsie is the wine director of Cru Cafe in the new Cape Quarter Extension in Cape Town. Cru Cafe has recently been nominated as the best wine bar and wine list for 2009 by Graham Howe. (www.thecrucafe.com)

Food and wine travels have taken her all over the world, to areas such as Bordeaux, Cognac, Burgundy, Loire, Champagne, Rhone, Alsace, Southern France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Oregon and California. As a specialist in the wines of New Zealand and Australia she travels there regularly.

In 2003 she obtained an Australasian Wine Master in a pilot program ran by the Centre for International Wine Studies.
She is an international wine judge and lecturer and presented lectures and tastings in San Francisco, England, Sydney and Melbourne on South African wine.

In South Africa, she has judged for SAA, Juliet Cullinan Wine Awards, Veritas Awards, Swiss International Airlines Wine Awards and Michelangelo Wine Awards.
Food and wine matching is a passion and a particular sphere of expertise researched in great restaurants all over the world.