THE 2018 Private Bin R163 from Distell’s Nederburg of Paarl, South Africa, was among the Top 6 in The Drinks Business Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters 2022 held in the UK – the other five ‘Master’ award winners coming from Napa Valley (2) and Washington in the USA, and from Eden Valley and Barossa Valley in Australia. The 2018 vintage of Nederburg’s R163, also Highly Recommended in Platter’s SA Wine Guide, is not yet on sale – apparently it will only be released in September or October and will only be available from Distell’s Vinotèque in Stellenbosch, but who knows for how much!

The Private Bin R163 has a great track record as a Nederburg Auction wine, the previous release having been the 2015. With the Nederburg Auction now a thing of the past, the numerous Private Bin wines were reduced to just three, the other two being Edelkeur Noble Late Harvest and Two Centuries Cabernet Sauvignon, of which the 2018 and 2019 vintages earned gold medals at the 2022 Global Masters.

Interestingly, the 2017 vintage of the Private Bin Two Centuries Cab was priced at around R500 a bottle, whereas the current-release 2018 is available from Nederburg at R395! And/but we’re led to believe that the R163 will be positioned at a slight premium relative to the Two Centuries – somewhere between R400 and R600pb we suspect, going by The Drinks Business tasting report.