Faces of the Nederburg Auction

The Nederburg manor house

Johan de Wet (Dewetshof, Robertson) and Boets Nel (De Krans, Calitzdorp)

Master of Ceremonies, Master raconteur and Cape Wine Master Bennie Howard of Meerendal, Durbanville

Bennie Howard and Johan de Wet

Mignon du Plessis of Delheim with Eric Welile Botha, sommelier at The Oyster Box, Umhlanga Rocks

Checkers wine buyer, Stephanus Eksteen and friends

The lots displayed on a big screen above the auctioneer

The Pongracz flowed - here being offered to Lindsay Greatbatch of Decanter

The Johann Graue hall, familiar to viewers of Masterchef SA

Duimpie Bailey, David Biggs and Gail Alswang

Bidders and spectators in the hall

Anel Grobler and Jeanri-Tine van Zyl with her father

Tables ready for the hungry horde

Mark Norrish and Dale Louwsma of Ultra Liquors

Auctioneer Anthony Barne MW and his spotters

Willem du Toit, F&B Director at the Taj, considers his options and makes a bid

A hard day in the vineyards

Business goes on next to the breakfast tent

Boplaas 2004 Cape Vintage Reserve - no space for any more stickers!

Praisy Dhlamini and Christoff de Wet, young Fleur du Cap winemakers

A break at the Media Centre

Lynne and John joined a happy group of young winemakers for lunch

The Menu and the food

The crowded dining hall

followed by more activity on the floor

Christopher Bates, champion sommelier

Christopher Bates, Jos Baker, Lynne and Christine Rudman

Harald Bresselschmidt of Aubergine and Christophe Dehosse of Joostenberg with Lynne

Photographs © John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2012

Cape Wine 2012

The food on offer was a disgrace: this was a quiche in the Jasminium restaurant that looked at least 4 days old. The sandwiches were worse

The selection of Pinots Noir for tasting at the Hemel and Aarde tasting presented by Peter  Finlayson

Peter explains the difference of the wines on the Ridge and in the valley in the Hemel and Aarde

Completely full seminar

The wines we tasted:  Bouchard Finlayson’s 2010 Galpin Peak, Hamilton Russell 2010, La  Vierge 2010, Domain des Dieux 2010 Josephine; Bouchard Finlayson’s 2011 Galpin Peak, Creation 2011

Amazing old wines from some classic producers for a tasting being held by Michael Fridjhon. Sadly, we were not invited to this tasting. We did See Michael doing the pre tasting check on the bottle and he said they were all amazing. Only one bottle was corked.  We do have one or two of these in our cellar so there is an incentive to open them now.

Michael Fridjhon taking a photograph of the wine box wall, 

watched by an amused Simon Back

The attractive Constantia stand

Andrew Gunn wearing his Gunn tartan on his Iona stand

Benny Howard leads us amusingly into the wonderful Pinotage seminar

The 8 Pinotages we tasted 

The panel discusses the wines and tells us the history of the grape

Jovial Beyers Truter with his Pinotage

Dave Hughes in his Pinotage Association shirt

The panel: Benny Howard, Dave Hughes,  Beyers Truter, Abrie Beeslaar, Duimpie Bailey and Niel Groenewald

The wines we tasted were (in order):  Lanzerac 1964; Zonnebloem 1975; Kanonkop 1999; Spier Private Collection 2004; Rijk’s 2004; Stellenzicht’s Golden Triangle 2005; Kaapzicht’s Steytler  2006; and  Beyerskloof’s 2009 Diesel  (Beyers’ beloved dog) – he says he cried for 3 weeks when Diesel died

Behind the scenes – backup stock of wines for tasting

Ina Smith of the Chenin Blanc Association and colleague with Niels Verburg of Luddite

Rows and rows of exhibitors

Tasting and selling

Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen and a potential buyer

The Distell stand and a bored observer

Going green – biodiversity and sustainability

The Graham Beck crew, marketer Arnold Vorster between cellarmasters Erica Obermeyer, and Pieter "Bubbles" Ferreira

In the Swartland corner, it was exciting and very busy, especially with Adi Badenhorst there to make things happen

Pieter Ferreira preparing for a tasting of Robertson chardonnays

The art of elegant expectoration – Pieter Ferreira shows how

Mr Ferreira presents…

Six superb chardonnays: Graham Beck Blanc de blanc 2008, DeWetshof Limestone Hill 2012, Graham Beck 2010, Springfield Wild Yeast 2009, DeWetshof Bateleur 2009, Springfield Methode Ancienne 2009

Schalk Burger senior, Welbedacht owner, very serious about his excellent wine

Painted Wolf, Jeremy Borg and interested parties

Architect, winery designer and Kleinood owner, Gerhard de Villiers

Across the passage: Vindaba, selling South African wine tourism – most important

Robertson Wine Valley PR Manager, Elizma Spangenberg-Botha talks about 
her fascinating terroir

 Photographs © John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2012