Durban - The annual auction season is fast approaching with maybe the two most notable events being the Nederburg Wine Auction and the Cape Winemakers’ Guild Auction, this year being held a week apart.
The former is ranked among the world’s five most prestigious wine auctions and is the platform from which the trade has an equal opportunity to access rare and outstanding ready-for-market South African wines. However, it is not open to the general public as qualifying bidders must hold a liquor licence before obtaining a paddle.
The Nedbank Cape Winemakers’ Guild Auction serves a different purpose. An association recognising high standards of craftsmanship, the guild has evolved over the past 30 years into 45 members jointly representing the pinnacle of South African wine achievement.
Individual winemakers – not the farms on which they work – are guild members and each are experts in their respective fields. Only wines crafted exclusively for the guild by these exceptional winemakers are sold at the annual auction, an event open to the general public and wine collectors as well as the liquor and restaurant trade.
This year’s auction, on October 6, showcases 52 wines with a creative edge across a broad diversity of styles – and, now in its 28th year, brings with it a shift to the 21st century with the debut of live online bidding. It is a bid to reach the untapped world markets through a partnership between the guild and UK auction giant ATG.
Guild chairman Louis Strydom says they had been exploring options to open up the bidding platform via the internet for a while, but had been hampered by technical challenges. The portal www.the-saleroom.com will now allow wine collectors and dealers to bid online, effectively opening up new frontiers for these rare, exceptional wines.
The ATG internet-owned site is currently ranked as Europe’s leading portal for live art and antiques auctions and securing a growing interest in wine. Users search the catalogues and place their bids over the internet in real time with live audio and video feeds recreating an auction room.
According to ATG SA representative Angelika Elstner, the house experienced a 40 percent hike in site visits and 33 percent increase in registered bidders in one year.
Hofmeyr Mills Auctioneers Henré Hablutzel will conduct proceedings for the 15th time at the Spier conference centre and buyers unable to attend can either register in advance and take advantage of the telephonic and proxy bidding facilities or register free of charge on the internet portal.
Online registrations open two weeks before the auction once the catalogue has been posted on the site. - The Mercury