Courtesy of NedAuction July 19, 2011

Tradition has it among wine enthusiasts that you stand up in homage when you drink any wine older than yourself.
This is not something that happens too often for me, alas, but I recently stood in homage – and awe – when I tasted a 1926 KWV Private collection Reserve Port.
This wonderful amber liquid is packed with the warm, plum-pudding flavours of brandy-soaked raisins. Time has added to its elegance and roundness. What a treat!
The occasion was a preview tasting of some of the wines that will go on sale at this year’s Nederburg Auction, which takes place at Nederburg on September 28 and 29.
There are just six bottle of the rare 1926 port on offer, and they have a reserve piece of R3000 each.
I have no doubt at all that the bids will go considerably higher than that.
For those with pockets not quite as deep, there’s a delightful Allesverloren 1999 Port at a reserve price of R990 for a six-bottle case. It’s a soft and nutty after-dinner drink with flavours of cedar, tobacco and raisins.
Another of the wines that drew my attention was the 2007 Perdeberg Rex Equus Cabernet Sauvignon, offered at a reserve price of R1000 for a six-bottle case. This is a big, bold wine, loaded with spicy dark plum flavours, cinnamon and cloves, with a suggestion of oak vanilla that doesn’t dominate the flavour spectrum.
A wine for a special occasion.
Unusually for me, the stars of this year’s line-up shone brightest among the white wines, with some great Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blanc on offer.
I loved the Strandveld Adamaster 2008, named after the old god of winds and storms. This is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon with a smooth, creamy biscuity character and a long, lingering aftertaste – a perfect food accompaniment.
An unusual wine on offer is Rustenberg’s 2008 Stellenbosch Rousanne. It’s a very charming, fresh wine with complex flavours of peach and apricot. There are not many Cape wines made from this grape variety and this one carried a reserve price of R840 for a six-bottle case. If you want something rather rare and unsual with which to impress your dinner guests, this is certainly one to consider.
Then, of course there were the noble late harvest wines – always the stars of the Nederburg Auction.
Nederburg’s Private Bin S316 Weisser Riesling Noble Late Harvest and the cellar’s iconic 2001 Eminence were both made from grapes grown on Plaisir de Merle near Paarl, while their Semillon Noble Late Harvest 2000 is from grapes harvested at Altydgedacht in Durbanville.
Top of my list, however is the 2007 Nederburg Edelkeur, a charmer that offers lovely naartjie, tangerine and apricot flavours, all woven together to create the perfect end to a great dinner.
I believe there will be some high prices paid this year, in spite of the global economic “down-turn”.
The list is enough to lift the heart of even the most depressed economist.

Photograph: Nederburg

Home

Last Saturday’s Nederburg Auction, the 37th, was a focused and slick event, different in several ways from past auctions.
For a start, there were fewer “VIP” guests swanning around trying to look gorgeous. Since the fashion show was cut from the programme, everybody can concentrate on the real business at ha
nd – buying rare wines.
Waiters brought a steady supply of drinks and snacks into the auction hall, removing the temptation for bidders to sneak off for coffee or canapés, missing a few lots.
For the first time in many years there were no unsold lots at this auction, largely thanks to auctioneer Anthony Barne’s steady hand on the hammer. He kept the pace up without ever making bidders feel pressurized.
The auction catalogue had been trimmed too, offering fewer wines than last year, but definitely a more exciting collection.
There were many genuinely rare and sought-after wines on offer, as the prices indicate. A single cast of six bottles of 1957 Lanzerac Cabernet attracted a flurry of bidding that didn’t stop until the case was knocked down for R22000. That’s R3600 a bottle!
A case of six bottles of 1949 KWV Ruby Port (probably not very “ruby” by now) went for R20 000, with bidding climbing by R500 a bid.
One of the oldest wines on offer was a 1930 KWV Red Muscadel Jerepigo and the bidding went rapidly to R6500 a bottle. Then the successful bidder took all six bottle on the list.
Chateau Libertas has become a legend in the Cape wine industry. It’s the longest surviving label on the South African market and still going strong.
Three bottles of the 1961 vintage of this old favourite fetched a bid of R20 000 – more than R6000 a bottle. Treat those bottles of Chateau Lib in your cupboard with respect!
One of the breath-taking prices went for a six-case lot of 1948 Monis Collector’s Port. The bidding just went on and on and the hall fell silent as we watched the price rise to R10 000, then R30 000, then R50 000 and finally finish at R68 000 – more than R10 000 a bottle!
Somebody REALLY wanted that port.
There were also bargains for serious wine buyers and retailers of course. Nederburg’s Private Bin Pinotage 2003, for example, was knocked down for R110 a bottle, and Stellenrust’s barrel fermented 2008 Chenin Blanc was sold for R136 a bottle.
Nederburg’s 2009 Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc fetched around R140 a bottle.
At those prices there will be some happy wine drinkers enjoying excellent wines, even after the buyers have added their profit.
Early on Saturday the sales had passed the R4-million mark, and at the end of the auction the total was a record R6,13 million.
Congratulations to the organizers of the auction for a well-run event.

Photograph: Matt Stow

Home