A feast of maiden and rare vintages at Nederburg Charity Auction

The Nederburg Charity Auction is offering a feast of very rare and historic maiden vintages in September this year when a number of extremely valuable wines come under the hammer.

This year’s items include two bottles of the maiden vintage GS Cabernet 1966, a wine widely regarded as the best ever Cabernet produced in South Africa, the first vintages of De Toren’s Book XVII and The Black Lion Bordeaux blends, and the very first Rustenburg Dry Red, produced in 1974.

Also on the list is a Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac 1937, billed as possibly the most rare wine ever auctioned in South Africa, and a Petrus Pomerol 1964, one of the most sought-after wines in the world.

The potential highest-grossing star of the auction is the widely acclaimed GS Cabernet 1966, one of only two vintages ever made (the other in 1968) by the then Monis winemaker George Spies. His maiden vintage rapidly attracted attention at the time of its release after being scored a then unprecedented 95 points by Wine Spectator. The wine critic James Molesworth called it “the one true classic wine ever produced in South Africa”.

But the story does not end there. Over the years its reputation grew, resulting in near mythical status amongst those privileged to taste it – to the extent that Nederburg Auction selection convenor Higgo Jacobs commented recently that “this wine will be impossible to find by the time it is firmly established as South Africa's first real iconic investment vintage red”.

British wine critic Jancis Robertson was invited in February this year to taste the 1966 at the Distell Tabernacle. Scoring it 20/20, she wrote afterwards that the GS Cabernet 1966 had “far more fruit integrity than most 1966 red Bordeaux would have now”.

This year the GS rubs shoulders with another iconic South African wine – in this case a set of 12 x 750ml bottles of Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1991, 1995, 2003 and 2009 (three bottles of each vintage) donated by Kanonkop. Each of these Paul Sauer vintages were winners of the coveted Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for Best Blended Red Wine at the annual International Wine and Spirits Competition held in London, and are widely regarded for their ageing potential and class.

Distell has donated several valuable wines from its underground treasure trove, the Tabernacle. These include the rare Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac 1937 (1 x 750ml), a wine from the ultra-expensive Medoc red wine region in France and one that has been sitting at the top of Bordeaux wine lists since the 17th century.

The Tabernacle has further donated a Rustenberg Dry Red 1974 (1 x 750ml bottle) made by Etienne Le Riche. Made in what is considered the top vintage of the 1970s, the Rustenburg is still fresh, with powerful sweet fruit and excellent integrity.

Also from the Tabernacle is a highly sought-after Petrus Pomerol 1964 (1 x 750ml), awarded 99/100 points by leading Bordeaux critic Robert Parker with a suggested drinking window of up to 2030, and a set of Chateau Libertas 1959 (3 x 375ml bottles), from the distinguished 1959 vintage.

Finally the Tabernacle has donated a 50-year old Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon 1965 (3 x 375ml) that earlier this year attracted the attention of one of the most widely respected wine authorities in the UK, Steven Spurrier. Tasting it on a trip to South Africa, he praised the quality and longevity that underscores Zonnebloem’s reputation for producing classics.

From the same era but hailing from across the other side of the globe, the Tabernacle has donated a Penfolds Grange 1968 (1 x 750ml), an Australian legend and masterpiece officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. The 1968 is considered a classic vintage and it has aged beautifully.

Staying with classics, Distell’s head winemaker Razvan Macici has donated three bottles of the wine that launched the Nederburg Auction: the Nederburg Private Bin Edelkeur 1977. Made by Günter Brözel from a single block of botrytised Chenin Blanc, it was awarded Top Ten status in the 2007 International Botrytis Type Wine and Sweet Wine Competition in Budapest, the only wine outside Europe to do so. It also won a double gold medal at the 2010 Veritas Awards. 

One of the other founding members of the original Auction, Overgaauw, is represented at the Charity Auction through a donation by the Van Velden family of a set of 4 x 1.5L bottles of Overgaauw Cabernet Sauvignon 1982. The 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent expression of a great Stellenbosch vintage from a very special site.

Groot Constantia, yet another founding member of the Auction, donated a set of Groot Constantia Gouveneur’s Reserve 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 (6 x 750ml) to mark the historical significance of the estate as the oldest wine producing farm in the New World and celebrating 330 years of winemaking this year. These wines share 11 gold awards between them.

Also featuring on the list of more recent vintages is a three-litre bottle of Delheim’s flagship Grand Reserve 2007, donated by Delheim, also a Nederburg Auction founding member. This wine was largely influenced by a visit to Californian winelands by SA cellarmasters in the early eighties, resulting in a revolution against their own red wine production methods. The Grand Reserve has made the Nederburg Auction selection list every year since its launch.

De Toren donated a set of 2 x 750ml bottles of its acclaimed Book XVII (2010) and The Black Lion (2012) red wines. Made using ancient Roman “extreme” winemaking techniques, Book XVII is a Bordeaux voted Best Luxury Wine in SA recently, while The Black Lion has been hailed as “most powerful and luxurious Shiraz ever crafted in South Africa”, and awarded 3rd Best Luxury Wine in SA. The wines are made in extremely limited quantities from Stellenbosch and Swartland grapes.

In what has become a bit of a tradition, auctioneer Anthony Barne MW is donating a bottle of Barbeito Malvazia 1834 Madeira (1 x 750ml), a wine that can survive almost unchanged for two centuries or more. The wine is the sweetest style of Madeira and was made in the time that slavery was abolished and the Bo-Kaap settlement was founded in Cape Town.

Proceeds from all charity sales go to two Charity Auction beneficiaries. They are the Breytenbach Centre in Wellington, a multidisciplinary cultural centre for training and engaging with visual arts, music, drama and creative writing (www.breytenbachsentrum.co.za), and Hope Through Action, a non-profit organisation created to bring about life-changing initiatives for young people in South Africa through inter alia sport. (www.hopethroughaction.com)

The Nederburg Charity Auction takes place on Saturday 12th September, immediately following the close of the main auction, and is open to everyone attending the Nederburg Auction. View the complete list of items here.

Charity auctioneer 2015:

The Nederburg Auction team is pleased to announce that Roland Peens will take up the guest charity auctioneer’s gavel for this year’s Nederburg Auction charity sale, which takes place at the close of the main Auction on Saturday 12th September.

The director of Wine Cellar for more than a decade and an experienced wine merchant, Roland has been tremendously fortunate to taste many fine wines across the world. In the case of the Nederburg charity auction, Roland’s passion for and knowledge of fine wines, several of which will come under the charity auction hammer, puts him in the perfect position to maximise each charity auction item for bidders, and in doing so raise much needed funds for the beneficiaries.