THE 2019 Cape Wine Auction at Buitenverwachting in Constantia raised over R14-million, bringing the total raised at the event towards the education of needy children in the winelands of South Africa to around R88-million since the annual sale was first held in 2014.

One of the highlights on offer was an item comprising 96 bottles of Pinotage from grapes grown on the Ashbourne farm of Anthony Hamilton Russell in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. The fruit was all harvested from the same vines at the same time on the morning of 26 February 2018, but half was vinified by Eben Sadie of Malmesbury, half by Hamilton Russel Vineyards’ Emul Ross. The project was intended to show the different approaches, stylistic aims and aesthetic philosophies of the two winemakers. A once-off, the wine – Man & Soil – sold for R1-million.

The wine brands showcased among the auction lots were:

Ashbourne
Boschendal
De Grendel
De Toren
Delaire Graff
DeMorgenzon
Dom Pérignon (FR)
Hawksmoor
Henriot (FR)
Kanonkop
Lanzerac
Meerlust
Nederburg
Nitida
Paul Cluver
Platter’s SA Wine Guide
Rupert & Rothschild
Sadie