Tuesday, October 11, 2022

The 2022 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction

The 2022 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction took place over two days this year, 30th September and 1st October. The auction was conducted by auctioneers Strauss and Company on-line and physically at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West

We had been invited to attend and decided to go to the second day. However, we did watch the first half of the auction on line at home on Friday night, drinking some rather good wine and getting very excited by the bidding, which came from all over the world. Strauss certainly had all their on-line and phone connections working seamlessly

It was a huge success, and very exciting to watch, beating all the records for the prices received for the 513 lots. The final total was an impressive R13 985 500. "Prices were up by 30% on last year's auction and almost every lot sold above its pre-sale high estimate", said the CWG after the auction. Two of the top four wines at this year’s Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG) Auction were white wines, incidentally produced by leading female winemakers Samantha O’Keefe of Lismore Estate Vineyards and Andrea Mullineux. The Lismore Valkyrie Chardonnay 2021 from Greyton reached an average of R1743 per bottle while the Mullineux Trifecta Chenin Blanc 2020 from the Swartland sold at R1633. Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2019 reached the highest average price of R2457 per bottle, with Cederberg Teen die Hoog Shiraz 2020 selling at R1861.

To see more about the Auction results and a short video of the successful Auction, click on this link from the CWG

Miles Mossop on the steps of the Conference Centre

Martie Nauschutz, Logistics Coordinator at Cape Winemakers Guild, and outgoing chair Gordon Newton Johnson

The CWG staff always excels in the complex organization necessary to bring these wines to auction
The backroom girls from Strauss did a sterling job too

We had to be there early, so we set out just before 7 am as we wanted to experience the pre-auction tasting of the wines
Which meant no breakfast but, happily, they had provided exactly what we needed on arrival

and good coffee from the Bootleggers stand

JD Pretorius, CWG Chair Gordon Newton Johnson and David Trafford, chatting

and slowly, more people began to arrive

Of course, one needs a bubbly to get the day started and there was one from Spier
Wine flowed throughout the day, as did the water on the tables

Good gammon and cranberry sauce in the croissants

and mushrooms in the quiches

and then a quick tasting of as many wines as one could manage before the auction started at 9 am,
to remind ourselves of what would be on the auction. And the wines were superb

The Elsenburg final year students doing the pouring were so helpful, interested and interesting;
they are the future of the wine industry

and the Auction begins

Susie Goodman was one of the three auctioneers and she started the day off
She really knows how to work the room, grab bids and keep the pace building
Lynne worked for Phillips Auctioneers in London for a while many years ago, so she really liked her style and ability

Bina Genovese was the second auctioneer who took over after about two hours
It is an exhausting job and they all did very well

Roland Peens, Senior Wine Specialist, has his own style of business, brisk and clear on the podium
He does have the added advantage of knowing many members of the wine and hospitality industries

Francois Rautenbach of Singita, a significant bidder

Cape Winemakers Guild members Alex Starey, Sebastian Beaumont and Peter Finlayson
waiting to see how their wines sold
Sadly, it is Peter Finlayson's swansong auction for the Guild. It is Alex Starey's first

Master Sommelier and Consultant Senior Wine Specialist for Strauss, Higgo Jacobs, Roland Peens
and Annareth Bolton, Strategic Marketer: Wine, Destinations and Events, Fine Wine Fundis, Stellenbosch University
Annareth is Higgo's sister

Niels Verburg and Louis Strydom with Charles Hopkins on his phone in the background

Duncan Savage & his daughter sitting next to Andrea Mullineux

The view from the podium; phone bids were taken on the right

Much of the bidding was on line and on the phone as well as in the room

Gregory Mutambe, Twelve Apostles Hotel Head Sommelier, was there to buy for the hotel

Mid morning snacks if you were feeling a little jaded. Great fresh bagels with cream cheese and smoked trout

Fresh oysters

Vietnamese spring rolls which needed some dipping sauce

Chef Christophe Dehosse and Jeremy Walker

Carel Nel of Boplaas and his daughter Rozanne

Frans Smit, Dewaldt Heyns and Dawid Nieuwoudt

Jeremy Walker, Tiffany Hurst, Jeff Grier, Anne Ferreira, Billie Lambrechts

Frans Smit, Dawid Nieuwoudt, Jac Borman

Bubbly couple Anne and Pieter Ferreira

At 1.30, six chefs stations opened in the foyer; each was well known and respected for their food
They had each made one dish for lunch and one could taste them all
Ellerman House Chef Kieran Whyte produced…

…excellent Seared Tuna Tataki,, with Malay mayonnaise, spring onion, naartjie ponzu, naartjie salad
was so very, very fresh and he had added crisp onion sprinkles to the top of the dish for texture,
which was life changing, something we will copy in future

Lord Charles Hotel's Chef Yusuf Abrajee's Mushroom chawanmushi
with Hokkaido pumpkin caramel, pickled shimejis, papaya and bamboo salsa, curried vegetable cornflakes
was a dark, deep mushroom custard topped with the freshness of pickled mushrooms. Delicious

Chef Gustaaf Boshoff, chef patron of The Millhouse at Lourensford produced Grass-fed brisket taco,
umami bomb, blue cheese ranch, pickled red onion
We did see some pick up the taco and attempt to eat this neatly,
we just used a fork to eat the oh, so tender brisket and accompaniments. It brought back great memories too

Chef Garth Bedford of The Kraal Bistro at Klein Joostenberg

His Pork Cheek Bourguignon with a celeriac purée was so, so tender and full of wine rich flavours

Chef Christophe Dehosse of The Vine Bistro, Glenelly,
with his Salmon trout gravadlax with wakame, honey dill mustard and lavash
Divine - Lynne has to admit having more than a couple of these
She needs to remember to add the honey dill mustard sauce to hers when she next makes it

Gordon Newton Johnson and his son, Noah
Gordon worked so hard to arrange all of this and it was a great success
HIs excellent wines also achieved impressive prices

Later in the afternoon, to help people soldier on bidding, dessert was served
These small choux éclairs were filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue

Peppermint crisp tart squares

We loved these tiny Carrot cakes which had plenty of the essential pecan nuts

The final total and the final bid on the last item


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Location: 4FPX4V2M+92

Decanter Award for Rosa Kruger at Old Vines tasting

An invitation from Andre Morgenthal of the Old Vines Project to De Warenmarkt in the centre of Stellenbosch to come and taste some of the excellent wines made from vineyards that are registered with the Old Vines Project. And we certainly did taste some really fine wines as we wandered around the different stalls

It is a fascinating place and a different concept; we were very impressed
They had taken over the whole venue for the evening
Different stands with food and drink and you can pick and choose what you want

and then take a table with friends to enjoy the evening
The different stations had been taken over by members of the Old Vines Project to showcase their wines
It does resemble the Mojo market in Sea Point, but seems to have more choices and good quality

Michela Dalpiaz, whom we know from Ayama. She is now at Nomoya Wines in Paarl

Some clever cards with whiche you could download the wine details to your phone
Very valuable for the foreign wine visitors who had come for Cape Wine

Haute Cabrière winemaker Tim Hoek

Bellevue winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger and Francois Rautenbach of Singita

Then canapes began to appear, these were mini Caesar salads

Caprese salad on a stick drizzled with good Balsamic

Nicole Kilian, Keermont sales manager, with some of the old vine wines for tasting

Oysters with a beetroot dressing

Great Boerewors

There were many international wine industry and wine media visitors enjoying the tasting of these excellent wines;
they were here for Cape Wine which began on the 5th October and lasted for 3 days

Mushroom cappelletti, they did need a sauce of some kind

Rosa Kruger with Ina Smith of the Chenin Blanc Association

Andre Morgenthal and Nadia Hefer of the Old Vines Project

We loved the slightly off the wall story of the names of these Fuselage wines;
the winemaker is fascinated with flying and planes as well as wines

Welgegund Heritage Wines in Wellington was founded in the 18th Century 

Daniel Kriel, owner of De Warenmarkt introduced us to the place he has created
and said that he hoped we would come back another time
He hoped that we were enjoying the food they were producing for us to taste, and everyone concurred

It was a large crowd of wine people and media enjoying the evening
and now primed to hear to the major announcement of the evening 

Nadia Hefer introduced ....

.... Tina Gellie, content creator for Decanter Magazine, who had flown in from London to present the award

She was there to present Rosa Kruger, the creator of the Old Vines Project, which has been funded by Johan Rupert,
with a very special Award from Decanter magazine. Once a year, they add one person to their Hall of Fame
and this year the award is given to Rosa Kruger for the devotion and dedication she has given to the Old Vine Project
She is the first South African and the first viticulturist to receive this prestigious Decanter award

Rosa said that 25 years ago, when she began the journey, she knew nothing about it, travelling, tasting and reading
She has worked and walked in some of the most amazing vineyards in the world
In 2013, at the 60th anniversary of the Masters of Wine, they did the first tasting of the SA old vines wines
They shone! And, in the same year, Jancis Robinson wrote the first article in the London Times about the wines

Andre has been urging her on, and building relationships with wines, vineyards, vines and terroir
They spend 8 to 9 hours a day in the field and their efforts are being noticed and appreciated
Take life at a steady pace, never stop trying to do better and never give up the fight

A very delighted and proud Rosa with Tina Gellie and the Decanter article

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