SA’s rarest and oldest wines to go under the hammer

Some of South Africa’s oldest, rarest and finest wines will go on auction on Saturday 8, June and the line-up is set to get wine fans trembling with excitement.

The list includes 6 bottles of Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015, which scored a full 100 points from master of wine Tim Atkin and the GS 1966 Cabernet Sauvignon, which some regard as being the country’s rarest wine.

Perhaps most enthralling for non-wine fans is the Jaubert Muscat d’Alexandrie, the grapes for which were grown in 1800, and which is now almost 220 years old. Seven generations of the Joubert family have cared for the 100 litre barrel of Muscat which is topped up each year. The solera-style, richly-sweet wine  was born in 1800 and was rated 99 points by Neal Martin.

“Other legendary wines include a Magnum of KWV 1948 vintage port, as well as the unreleased first vintage of Klein Constantia Vin de Constance, 1986. Two extremely rare wines from the 1990s are also on offer, 1 x 3 bottles of Cordoba Crescendo 1998 and 1 x 6 bottles of the Penfolds-beating Stellenzicht Syrah 1994,” explains a statement released by the auction house Strauss & Co.

Only 76 bottles were ever produced from dying old-vine, Chenin Blanc vinyard, of the unreleased Alheit Family Radio Lazerus 2018, but six of them will also be up on auction on the day.

The auction will take place at the Strauss & Co offices in Johannesburg in the morning, but the company says it is happy to accept bids from those who can’t make it, or even allows for telephonic bids. Extra information can be obtained by contacting the auction house on +27 11 728 8246.

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