Strauss & Co sells some of SA’s best wines at auction

● Some of SA’s finest wines went under the hammer at Strauss & Co’s first Cape Town fine-wine auction yesterday. We caught up with wine authority Higgo Jacobs on the path ahead for the joint venture between the auction house and Wine Cellar fine-wine merchants.

Q: Tell us a bit about your penchant for wine and the 20-year journey that led you to become partner and curator of the Strauss & Co fine-wine auctions.

A: I have always been drawn to the beauty and mystery that set fine wines apart from the vast majority of wine that sits more comfortably in the fast-moving consumer goods category. Wines at the very top end are shaped by seasons, place and people.

This is what I have learnt from my time in the industry. I am clearly not alone in my conviction that SA’s finest wines belong in the dialogue of international fine wine, but unfortunately, commercially speaking, they are not. After co-ordinating the selection process of the Nederburg auction since 2011, I became convinced that the establishment of a secondary market and promotion of the age-ability of our wines have a large role to play in unlocking our potential at the top end.

Q: These are remarkable times for South African wine. Share some insights.

A: Many international commentators have said SA is the most exciting wine-producing country in the world at the moment. The reason is the camaraderie among young winemakers exploring and unlocking the potential of our very diverse vineyard landscape, on top of a history dating back 350 years.

One has to be realistic … This is not the easiest of times to launch a new platform in the luxury-goods sector, but when isolating the momentum purely in fine wine, the time is right to move now. Launching something like this has tremendous challenges, many unforeseen, but the natural fit of the partnership means we have the tools and expertise to adapt to challenges.

Q: Please elaborate on Fine Wine Week. A: In the lead-up to the auction we put together a series of fine-wine experiences which highlighted our most remarkable auction lots. Among them was the marquis event, a hedonistic dinner at FYN restaurant, highlighting the 1998 first growth lot. Then, master of wine Tim Atkin hosted a public tasting of his 95+ point wines, poured by

SA’s leading winemakers themselves.

Wine Cellar director Roland Peens and I also presented a fine-wine workshop and our leading winemaker, Eben Sadie, hosted a once-in-a-lifetime vertical tasting of his iconic red, Columella.

Q: Tell us about one of your highlights on the fine-wine week calendar.

A: It was incredibly exciting to host Tim Atkin on Friday. Tim has over 30 years of fine-wine experience and shared his wines of the year on the eve of the release of his seventh annual “South African Report”. Tim also presented his podium winners — winemaker of the year, young winemaker of the year, red and whites of the year, as well as best new discoveries and more.

Q: And of course all of these experiences led up to the very first Cape Town Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction.

A: Yes indeed! After a successful June 8 Johannesburg auction,

Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auctions hosted its main fine-wine auction for 2019 in Cape Town. Not only did it include SA’s finest and rarest wines, there was also an incredible line-up of icons from Bordeaux and throughout Europe on offer.

Q: Auctions can seem daunting and inaccessible. Is there a barrier to entry?

A: Even though we are passionate about fine wine, we would like to avoid the often stifling, affected culture that can surround wine. The Strauss auction was purely a business platform, open to the public.

Q: Which wines would you have recommended buying at this auction?

A: All of them. This was a whole auction of wine highlights. We made a selection for the catalogue after receiving multiple wines for consideration. And it has to be kept in mind that we only called for fine wines from the Cape’s blue-chip producers. So, it was a selection within a selection.

We would like to avoid the often stifling, affected culture around wine