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Cape Winemakers Guild hails 30th Auction of exceptional wines

The annual Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction, the South African wine industry showcase of rare, outstanding wines with creative flair and great diversity, celebrates its 30th milestone on Saturday, 4 October this year.

Benchmarking winemaking excellence with wines of remarkable lineage and enduring quality, crafted in small volumes exclusively for the auction by members of the Guild; this year’s auction will see the culmination of three decades of winemaking prowess.

Open to private buyers from the outset, the first Guild auction was held in Johannesburg on Saturday, 7 September 1985 just three years after the establishment of the Cape Independent Winemakers Guild as it was called then, by eight enthusiastic winemakers in the home of founding chairman Billy Hofmeyr, at Welgemeend in Paarl.

By 1985, membership had grown to 13 winemakers, whose very first auction wines constituted an impressive line-up of 18, all boasting the original Guild label.  The wines went under the gavel at the Rosebank Hotel at the hand of seasoned wine auctioneer and head of Sotheby’s wine department in London, UK Master of Wine David Molyneux-Berry. The most expensive wine, a 12-bottle case of Blaauwklippen Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1982 by winemaker Walter Finlayson was sold for R180. Next up were Vriesenhof 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon by Jan Boland Coetzee, Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 1981 by Beyers Truter, and Rustenburg Cabernet Sauvignon 1980 by Etienne le Riche all fetching the second highest price of R150 per case. 

Today, in comparison, the Guild has 45 members representing the pinnacle of South African winemaking and the annual auction has grown in stature from a niche event to the quintessential showcase of the country’s wine achievement. From its humble beginnings, the auction now boasts a line-up of 59 wines with record sales of over R8,4 million in 2013 and the highest price of R6 200 for a 6-bottle case of Hartenberg Auction Reserve Shiraz 2010. 

”Molyneux-Berry’s involvement lent great credibility to our first auctions. As a Master of Wine and renowned British wine auctioneer, he was very knowledgeable, but also very formal,” recalls Johan Malan, whose first Guild Auction wine in 1985 was a 1982 Chardonnay, one of the country’s first from a small vineyard at Simonsig.   



The 30th annual Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction takes place on Saturday, 4 October 2014 at the Spier Conference Centre in Stellenbosch. The 2014 auction line-up can be tasted at Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Showcases in Cape Town on Thursday, 21 August at the International Convention Centre (CTICC), and in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 27 August at the The Nedbank Atrium in Sandton. The Showcases are open to the public and tickets can be purchased via www.webtickets.co.za at R170.

To find out how you can purchase these rare and exclusive wines visit: www.capewinemakersguild.com, email info@capewinemakersguild.com or call:       

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