one of the friends i had over last night is south african & he brought this wine. the most notable thing about this wine was how much it reminded me of a rhone wine. wrong grapes & wrong part of the world, but the earthy nose, with mushroom & a hint of barnyard reminded me of some cotes du rhone that i have had & the flavors were quite consistent. if i had to factor in typicity, this wine would not score well; leaving that factor out & factoring in that i enjoy this style of wine, i give it 90 points. qpr is excellent at around $10.

In my experience with lots of SA wines, including Neil Ellis, much of the SA wines have very "rhony" aromas and flavors. I really think it has lots to do with the type of game that is consumed in SA. The 96 Neil Ellis Cab was a great wine for under $20.

Doc

Agree. I recommend trying also

Neil Ellis Cabernet Sauvignon 1999
This medium bodied Stellenbosch Cab has a nice earthy nose and a beautiful package of plummy fruit, lots of smoke and mint notes on the palate. A joy to drink now. 93 phyll points (WS 90). Have been ripped on the price though: EUR30 but can be found for 15....

though I conceed I was a bit overenthusiasmised with this one and it's probably rather a 91-92. As for the "rhony" notes:

Bellevue Tumara 2000
This Stellenbosch based winery was supposedly founded in the early 18th century (according to the label) and hence would be one of South Africa's oldest wineries. Some of their wines have been reviewed for the first time in one of the more recent WS Weeklies.
The Tumara is a 75% Cab, 15% Merlot, 10% Malbec blend.I tasted this blind (once again with the help of Mrs Phyll) and was in for a surprise. On first smell in the decanter I was sure this was either Rhône or Languedoc with its funky, earthy blackberry fruit. The funk blew off soon and this red evolved beautifully, shifting into leather and plum later with hints of eukalyptus and mint. However this is not a keeper, drink now to 2005. No professional ratings known, 91 points from me. (EUR18)

(Side note: Your editor cannot handle the EURO symbol!!!)