YES the top price paid at the online Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction on 1 June 2020 will be recorded as R17 588 for a single bottle of the 63-year-old red blend Chateau Libertas, but the theme of the sale was mostly about Chenin Blanc, Chenin-based blends, and Pinotage, arguably as much South Africa’s signature red as Chenin is
SHEW! Over R85 000 paid for one of the most expensive wines in the world, a single bottle of the Merlot-driven Petrus, 1989 vintage, and nearly R74K forked out for another top wine from Bordeaux, three bottles of ‘first growth’ blend Haut-Brion, also 30 years old. But arguably more impressive at the Strauss & Co / Wine Cellar auction
FOR THE MOST PART, the results of Strauss & Co’s ‘Rhône-themed’ fine wine online auction conducted in collaboration with the merchants Wine Cellar and sommelier Higgo Jacobs from 6 to 14 April 2020 were to be expected. But how impressive was the demand for that youngster from Donovan Rall, and could that old Zandvliet really still be alive and well?
HAVING RAISED over R17-million from the charitably-minded who attended the 2020 edition of The Cape Wine Auction at Boschendal in Franschhoek, the event increased the total amount raised since the inaugural sale in 2014 at Delaire Graff in Stellenbosch to over R100-million. Sponsored by Nedbank Private Wealth, the glamorous celebration of Wine South Africa unites the industry with the philanthropic
KANONKOP PAUL SAUER tops the list of most ‘investment-worthy’ South African wines produced over the past 20 years and sold in 2019 at one of the various Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auctions or at the Cape Fine & Rare Wine Auction (CFRW) in Stellenbosch. That’s according to Roland Peens, director of Wine Cellar, the Cape Town-based merchants associated with
AFTER a bidding period lasting just over a week, the highest prices fetched for South African beauties at the inaugural Fine Wine Online Auction conducted by Strauss & Co in collaboration with merchant Wine Cellar and sommelier Higgo Jacobs were for the following: from Paarl cellars, KWV Tawny Port 1939, Veenwouden Classic 1993 and 1997 (red blend); from Somerset
ESTABLISHED as the Nederburg Auction, Paarl, it was ‘reinvented’ in 2019 as the Cape Fine & Rare Wine Auction, held over two days in October at the Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch, with Charlie Foley of British auction house Christie’s wielding the gavel. Sponsored by Libertas Vineyards & Estates of Distell, the October sale is billed as one of the most
WHO WOULD have thought it possible? The Mullineux couple Chris (viticulturist) and Andrea (winemaker), perhaps! But how amazing it was that the only white wine to fetch over R1000 a bottle on average at South Africa’s 2019 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction in Stellenbosch came from grapes grown in Barrydale, Klein Karoo – more than Ataraxia Chardonnay of Hemel-en-Aarde, more
THE MOST in-demand South African lots at the first Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction to be held in Cape Town, organised in collaboration with retailer Wine Cellar and sommelier Higgo Jacobs… Following the inaugural event in Johannesburg three months earlier, the Cape reds, whites and sweets to fetch over R2000 a bottle/750ml at the September sale were as follows:
MULLING OVER results of the inaugural Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction in Johannesburg, waiting to hear feedback and comment from the organisers Wine Cellar and Sommelier Higgo Jacobs, there’s a fair bit to ponder. 78% of the 183 lots sold for R1.3m in total, the items ranging from single bottles to 12-bottle cases. “We think it’s a great start,”
TOTAL SALES at the 2018 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction amounted to over R10-million for 2012 cases (6 x 750ml or equivalent), with the average prices of R5 265 per case and R878 per bottle exceeding what was achieved in 2017. The line-up of 48 wines included 31 reds, 14 whites, two Cap Classique sparkling wines and a Cape Port, with the red blend Kanonkop
WINES FROM Distell, Kanonkop and Groot Constantia were the superstars at the 2018 Nederburg Auction in Paarl, fetching the top prices in highlighting the demand for old reds and sweet wine dating back as far as 1948. Three bottles of 70-year-old Monis Port sold for R21 000, a 50-year-old Chateau Libertas red blend attracted R5000 a bottle, magnums of Kanonkop Pinotage
INTERESTING it was to see the brands involved and what the charitably minded were keen to buy at the 2018 Cape Wine Auction hosted at Rustenberg and Tokara in Stellenbosch. The prime objective of the two-day event is to support children’s education in needy communities of the South African winelands, and to this end the amount raised came to R17.5 million.
THE TOP South African wines in terms of the average prices fetched at the 2017 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction in Stellenbosch were as follows, with a case = 6 × 750ml or 4.5 litre equivalent: TOP 10 REDS IN MOST DEMAND Beyerskloof CWG Traildust Pinotage 2015 R8692 per case, R1449 per bottle – Stellenbosch Cellar Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2014 R8138
MORE THAN two weeks after the 2017 Nederburg Auction on 16 September, the full results of South Africa’s premier sale of fine wines including mature beauties and golden oldies had yet to get the auditor’s stamp of approval. Presumably this is simply a case of an administrative hold-up and that nothing’s gone awry! For the last post-event reports (pre-October 1)
UNLIKE the annual Nederburg Auction of rare South African wines in Paarl, the annual Cape Winemakers Guild Auction of rare South African wines at Spier in Stellenbosch is open to anybody and offers limited releases made exclusively for sale at this event and packaged as such – with no reserve prices. These are mostly young wines, some special cellar- or vineyard-selections,
THE NEDERBURG AUCTION is an opportunity to buy some rare South African wines at what is reputed to be the fifth biggest sale of its kind in the world and the the ‘Oldest in the New World’. For most wine lovers, attendance is still by invitation only, but whether you purchase with the help of a retailer bidding on your behalf,
“IN A SPECTACULAR show of generosity and opulence…” the 2017 Cape Wine Auction set a new record for the annual fund-raising effort by generating R22.3 million for 22 charities that focus on education and the lives of children in the winelands of South Africa. This year the bidding took place at Anthonij Rupert Wyne in Franschhoek, where estate owner Johann
GIVEN BELOW are the average prices fetched per bottle at the 2016 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction at Spier in Stellenbosch, i.e. per 750ml, i.e. to get some idea of consumer demand and brand value when it comes to many of South Africa’s top wines. The CWG auction of special vineyard or barrel selections and experimental bottlings now realises more than double in total
DESPITE a clause in the conditions of sale applicable to the Nederburg Auction of rare South African wine stating that buyer’s cards will be issued to licensees (only), i.e. not to the public in general, private buyers have been admitted to the bidding hall since 2012, albeit by invitation only and after going through an application process. These collectors buying in their own
