A highlight of the South African wine calendar, the annual Nederburg Auction takes place this year on September 28 and 29. The event will be featuring more than 150 vintages selected from 73 wineries.
Nederburg is recognised as one of the world’s five major wine auctions. It not only offers wines typically available in limited quantities, but also encourages greater wine standards, develops an awareness of local wines and ensures a fair distribution of these icons.
When the auction was launched in 1975, only wines from Delheim, Groot Constantia, Overgaauw, Simonsig and Nederburg went under the hammer. Today these stalwarts are joined by 12 newcomers – Almenkerk, Beyerskloof, Bosman Family Vineyards, Mont Destin, Rietvallei, Rupert and Rothschild, Shannon Wines, Strandveld, The Auction Crossing, The Goose Wines, Wildekrans and Wonderfontein – that, in the words of auction business manager Dalene Steyn, “create a culture of exclusivity”.
When considering that less than half the wines submitted made the final cut, the comment is justified.
Only white wines older than three years and reds older than five can be submitted, because in considering food and wine pairings, these wines must be ready for restaurant consumption.
While the official auction catalogue becomes available in June, the line-up was this week released on the website www.nederburgauction.co.za.
* Closer to the cellar, though, there were two noteworthy wines that passed my desk this week.
Robertson Winery has launched the first single-cultivar extra light red wine, the Extra Light Merlot 2011 (costs R45.95), which, without losing freshness or fruit flavours, is around 30 percent lighter in alcohol than the standard merlot 2011.
The winery uses the term “extra light” because the wine is both extra dry and low alcohol, both contributing to a low kilojoule count – and in times when a healthier lifestyle and stricter drink driving laws are at play, that is welcome news for many consumers.
The Robertson Winery Light range now comprises the merlot, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc and pinotage rosé.
The second wine across the desk was the Waterkloof Circle of Life White 2011 (R120), the latest vintage of this expressive wine. Waterkloof does not pursue an established style with this wine, but allows “the vineyard in the sky” to dictate the outcome – in simpler terms, the culmination of the circumstances of using a site-specific vineyard block .
It is one that cries out for seafood with chilli, lime and coriander. - The Mercury