After an early start, we arrived at 9 am the Lord Charles Hotel's Conference Centre in Somerset West
Registering at the entrance
CWG General manager Kate Jonker with two visitors
Breakfast and an aromatic side
and socialising over breakfast
The "backroom girls" who keep track of the bidding and register the bidders
A room for informal tasting of the wines being auctioned
Erika Overmeyer with two of the Elsenburg final year students pouring the wines
Abrie Beeslaar (Beeslaar and Kanonkop), Pieter Ferreira (Graham Beck), Frans Smit (Spier), Sebastian Beaumont (Beaumont)
Samanta O'Keefe, current CWG chair, welcomed the attendees
The auctioners - Susie Goodman, director and auctioneer at Strauss & Co
and auctioneer and wine consultant Roland Peens
Wine consultant Higgo Jacobs and Sarah Jordaan, head of the Strauss & Co Wine Department
Keeping track of the prices
Guild members Pieter Ferreira, Rianie and Louis Strydom, Charles Hopkins, David Nieuwoudt
Nadia and David Sadie
Corlien Morris of Wine Menu in Johannesburg waiting to see if one of her bids was successful
As each wine was auctioned, the details were shown on screens round the room
Lunch break
Richard Kershaw (Kershaw), David Finlayson (Edgebaston), Duncan Savage (Savage Wines)
and Miles Mossop (Miles Mossop Wines)
Snacks as a starter
smoked chicken foccacia, plump Saldanha oysters, braaibroodjies and vegetable kebabs
Wines to accompany lunch
Marlvin Gweze of Newmark Hotels, bidding and observing
Henry Prins, Lord Charles Conference and Banqueting Manager and JP Hayward, Hospitality Banqueting Manager
A beautiful family - Duncan Savage with his wife Zani and daughter Kate
Lunch was prepated by five prominent chefs, three of whom were from independent restaurants
The best dish of the day, perfectly cooked salmon with accompaniments that highlighted the dish.
Dessert came later and was a selection of tiny Petite Fours
and then attention turned back to the auction
At the end of the day the R16 516 500 total was almost R2m more than the amount achieved in 2023, up 11%.
There was a total of 276 bidders from 13 countries of whom 101 were successful
Registered bidders were from many countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, China, UAE, United Kingdom and the USA
55% of sales went to South African bidders, with the balance of the wines going to overseas bidders,
with 28% going to the UK
48 wines in 2 118 cases (6x750ml), 20 white and 28 red were sold,
with an average price of R1 309 per bottle, R1 210 for white wines and R1 375 for red wines
The annual Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme raised R2 320 850
The Auction raised R493 300, adding to the R1 827 550 already raised throughout the year by the CWG members at various charity events
All funds raised in this sister event of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction go towards supporting the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme
The Auction would not work without the effort put into it by all the members
of the Cape Winemakers Guild and Strauss & Co teams
It was a very exciting day with many treats for the buyers
The Strauss team
Roland Peens, Sarah Jordaan, Susie Goodman, Chantelle Johansson, Higgo Jacobs
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