Strauss & Co auction directors on white glove sales and SA’s wine prodigy producers

Strauss & Co fine wine auctions, in partnership with auction partners Wine Cellar fine wine merchants and Higgo Jacobs, will showcase rare, maiden vintage wines from the most esteemed producers Alheit Vineyards, Sadie Family and Vilafonté wines.

October 7, 2021

Caxton Reporter 6 minutes read

Susie Goodman_Executive Director_Strauss & Co auctions 1

It’s an exciting moment for South African wine, as Strauss & Co fine wine auctions, in partnership with auction partners Wine Cellar fine wine merchants and Higgo Jacobs, will showcase rare, maiden vintage wines from the most esteemed producers Alheit Vineyards, Sadie Family and Vilafonté wines.

Sourced predominantly from the producers’ private cellars, this auction offers a rare opportunity to purchase the finest mature South African wines during the 10 October auction. Previous producer-themed auctions in 2020 and 2021 have highlighted the likes of Klein Constantia, Meerlust and Kanonkop, offering never-before-seen vintages and unique lots.

We spoke to Susie Goodman, Executive Director of Strauss & Co auctions and Fine Wine Director Roland Peens about this meaningful partnership which endeavours to bring significant volumes of SA vintage wines to market.

Susie Goodman, Executive Director of Strauss & Co auctions:

Q: Susie, you are one of SA’s foremost art experts, leading Strauss & Co auctions as Executive Director. Please tell us about the recent addition of fine wine to the portfolio and how this integration has unfolded?

A: Beyond our expectations to say the least! It has been an absolute pleasure and delight to watch the development, growth, and enthusiasm that the wine department has generated. Despite the combination of a few lockdowns, various levels of Covid-19 restrictions, and the limitation of curfews in 2020 and 2021, these challenges have all been instrumental in connecting and developing a department virtually, physically and with a good dose of ‘vooma’!

The first inaugural wine auction was held in Johannesburg in June 2019 and eight auctions later, we’ve had two incredible ‘white glove’ sales – in May and July 2020 – a fabulous achievement for a year-old department! White glove is a fabulous auction term that conjures up glamour and excitement but really means an incredible 100% sell through … all lots finding buyers in an auction! All auctioneers dream of conducting a white glove sale. To have happened so soon is testament to the care, professionalism, research, market knowledge and passion that Roland, Higgo and Sarah have poured into the development of the wine department. The May 2020 white glove sale happened under level 5 restrictions, with a small team of five in the auction room, a large number of cables and cameras, and ‘the world’ connected to us via a bidding console. Our Covid-19 silver lining was we took Strauss & Co wine auctions into people’s homes and spaces and connected in new and surprising ways.

One of our strengths as an auction house is the ability to sell across departments, interests, collectors, geography, and sale clusters. The addition of the wine department has been imperative in offering our clients access to fine wines, wine collections and an alternative asset class. Wine collectors then looking further and buying fabulous art is the integration we hoped for too!

Q: How has the addition of wine been received by your existing clients; have you gained new bidders and has there been overlap?

A: Wine auctions have been very well received by our existing clients and the broadening of our auction offerings has appealed to a wider audience. We are very much in line with the international auction houses that have offered wine among other important collecting areas for a long time. James Christie included wine in the inaugural auctions at Christies in London in 1766. Strauss & Co offered its inaugural wine in June 2019. We are certainly the new kids on the block in comparison 255 years later but it’s good to follow a tried and tested combination.

The whole world has had to leap onto digital platforms, make new connections, pivot towards different markets, offerings, and types of auctions. At Strauss & Co we have grabbed these challenges and opportunities of rethinking and reshaping our auctions in the ‘new normal’ we find ourselves in. It has brought with it a considerable number of new buyers, grown our market and expanded the demand for high quality lots on auction. Bringing an auctioneer into your home makes the whole process more accessible. We are not defined by location or geographical boundaries any longer. With the current exchange rate and the considerably lower commission structure we offer, for an international collector buying at a Strauss & Co auction, it’s incredible value. Our reach and expansion has created an overlap of collectors and a strong flow of new buyers, and more buyers from across the globe, coming into our auctions. It is so exciting and a privilege to witness this growth and reach. We are very much part of a global auction world.

Q: Wine auction sales seem to be reaching new heights in South Africa, please tell us about a recent highlight?

A: What a privilege to answer this question! It brings a big smile to my face and also highlights the fun, opportunities, and ideas that we are involved with in a fast paced and growing auction house. In our Johannesburg office we had the opportunity to put together a 90-lot auction based around a theme of Impressionist/Expressionist art works. The selection of works, all by South African artists, fell under these banners and provided us with a context to relook, discuss and appreciate a number of our important artists. When we presented this bright spring-themed auction idea to the wine department, they enthusiastically questioned: what would it mean in the South African wine context!?

They came up with ‘574 years of South African wine icons’. They jumped at offering five important lots that when the ages of the wines are added up produced the grand total of 574! Giving the collector access to an incredible history of ownership and context. The top lot was the important 375 ml bottle of Grand Constance 1821. The excitement in the room, on the phones and with the online bidders was palpable, and the momentum just kept building! There was fierce bidding on the single bottle from numerous potential buyers. As the battle heated up the price keep rising and rising, and the staff all held their breaths with anticipation as the bids keep pinging on internet bidding console and coming in from the telephone bidders. Where would it stop? We flew past R 400 000 and the records kept tumbling! The gavel finally came down at R967 300 (including Buyers Premium and VAT). Five bottles totalling 574 in years sold for R1 274 560!

A heady moment for new and seasoned collectors fighting it out to determine the value of this wine favoured by Napoleon! These moments are the best of the auction world, a dream for an auctioneer, and for the department and the seller. I think we can safely say the Strauss & Co wine department has fully come of age in just over two years and is nabbing more than a few of the auction world’s stamps of approval!

Roland Peens, Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auctions Director

Q: Roland, in light of this recent sale, how do you feel the Strauss & Co wine auctions contributing to building the secondary wine market in South Africa?

A: The partnership of Strauss & Co, Wine Cellar fine wine merchants and Higgo Jacobs has for the first time brought meaningful volumes of vintage wine to the market. Since 2019 we have experienced the market expanding in volume and price, as consumers dictate the price rather than the producer. The increase in trades contributes to the formulation of a market price, which has never been available for South African wines.

Q: And now, on 10 October, yet another sterling auction is offering SA’s most sought-after wines by SA’s leading producers. Please tell us more?

A: Our producer focused auctions highlight the top rung of producers in South Africa, with Alheit Vineyard, Sadie Family and Vilafonté in spotlight on 10 October. Early vintages of each of these three legendary modern South African producers are now rare, as we offer vintages stocks direct from their cellars. This is surely the largest offering of all three producers on the secondary market.

Q: Can you give us some industry insight into these producers and how they are shaping SA’s wine landscape?

A: Eben Sadie is the evangelist of South African wine and the Sadie Family wines are arguably the most sought-after wines in South Africa. Around the same millennium period, Vilafonté started as an ambitious luxury wine label with part US ownership. Alheit emerged a decade later but has quickly become the master of Chenin Blanc in South Africa. All three producers offer consistently brilliant, age-worthy wines and have played a significant part in the South African fine wine revolution.