SA WINE lovers are spoilt for choice in June 2019 – so many shows, fairs and festivals to choose from, all around the country. Juliet Cullinan, FynArts, Wacky Wine Weekend, Trophy Wine Show – and the first auction of fine rarities to be hosted by Wine Cellar, Strauss & Co and Sommelier Higgo Jacobs. 4 & 5 JUNE
THE CATALOGUE has been published; the countdown has begun. The first Fine South African Wine Auction by Strauss & Co, Wine Cellar Fine Wine Merchants and Sommelier Higgo Jacobs is set for 8 June 2019 in Johannesburg – with Cape Town next up come September in what will become an ongoing programme of interest to wine investors and hedonists. “The
NO DOUBT affairs of one sort or another will be sparked during Wade Bales’ wine and whisky whirls in South Africa’s capitals. Love is in the air, and it’s that time of year when the Cab Franc producers of the country converge. There are plenty of occasions to contemplate in May 2019, whether you’re in Cape Town, Durban, Franschhoek,
THIS IS the first year that the Stellenbosch Wine Festival is held in Cape Town, instead of Stellenbosch! And just how much progress has Riesling from the Cape winelands made over the past 10 or 20 years? There are quite a few top Wine SA events to contemplate going to in April 2019, whether you’re in Nelspruit, Cape Town,
ON THE evenings of Wednesday 6 March and Thursday 14 March, there will be walk-around tastings at Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellars in Cape Town showing 25 of the 5 Star laureates in the 2019 edition of Platter’s SA Wine Guide. For the list, see here. At the tutored tastings on the evenings of Thursday 14 March and Wednesday 20 March,
DARN! It was sad to hear that the Wine & Bubbly Festival scheduled to take place on the beach at Plettenberg Bay in March had been cancelled due to ‘late withdrawal of the sponsorship’ – though good to read that Plett Tourism and Plett Winelands ‘will return with another world-class experience in 2020’. Instead then, the main focus of attention in
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.
FOR THOSE who’d like to hear from the person behind Top Wine SA… If you want to listen to a little of what the man has to say about the site – or perhaps you’re just curious as to what he sounds like six years after the launch… Wine critic Carrie Adams of the fine wine and spirit merchant Norman
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
THE 2017 Drinks International Wine Tourism Challenge (UK) culminated with awards for Best Visitor Centre (Codorniu in Spain), Most Innovative Experience (Vineyard Tour Guide App at Yealands in New Zealand), Best Food and Wine Matching (Zonin’s Castello di Albola in Italy), Best Retail Experience (Gonzalez Byass in Spain), Best Promotional Body (Stellenbosch Wine Routes), Best Wine Event (Harvest and From Vine
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
THE CAPE Winemakers Guild Auctions together with the pre-sale dinners and Showcase tastings are many things to many people… Obviously, they are opportunities to experience and/or collect some of South Africa’s finest and rarest wines from some of the Cape’s top cellars. They are also indicators of what the vintners are particularly passionate about producing or confirmation of what they’re best
OF COURSE, the R15-million raised for various charities thanks to the third AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction – this time at Klein Constantia – was laudable. A worthy cause, for sure: education of the needy in the Cape winelands. But the annual fundraiser also points to hedonistic stuff, highlighting decadent things enjoyed by those fortunate or deserving enough to indulge in the ultimate taste
