Leading SA auction house Strauss & Co has entered a joint venture with online wine merchant Wine Cellar and top sommelier Higgo Jacobs to launch a Fine Wine Auctions programme.
Strauss & Co says the initiative aims to provide prospective buyers with a selection of South Africa’s finest wines curated by Jacobs, wine expert and judge, and previously chair of the South African Sommelier Association. The quality of the lots will be ensured by the expertise of Wine Cellar fine wine merchants, managers of the largest fine wine cellar in Africa, with decades of experience.
Strauss & Co - well-known as high-priced fine art, decorative arts and jewellery auctioneers - says it believes the time is right to elevate SA wines to the same degree of collectability as the visual and decorative arts. With this new move, fine wine will now become a key part of the Strauss & Co annual auction calendar.
Interest in vintage South African wines is at an all-time high, especially now the country has raised its profile in the local and international wine market.
“We have witnessed an immense appreciation in fine wine prices over the past decade. This coincides with a leap in quality and realisation of some of the incredible gems from the last century,” says Roland Peens, director of Wine Cellar.
Extreme rarities, such as Lanzerac 1957 and GS 1966, will be offered from assured provenances. Vintage lots will be checked, recorked and barcoded for future trade. More recent icons, such as Kanonkop, Klein Constantia, Boekenhoutskloof and Vilafonte, will also be offered, along with “modern greats” by the Sadie family.
Lots will be sourced directly from leading producers, as well as approved private cellars.
The first Fine Wine Auction will be staged by Strauss & Co in Joburg on June 8, followed by a similar sale in Cape Town in September. - Auctions Writer