Small pockets of excellence at Nederburg Auction

This year, the ten-member strong panel of local and international judges chose a significantly smaller collection of 134 original, distinctive South African wines to be auctioned at the 39th Nederburg Auction at Nederburg in Paarl on Friday and Saturday, 6 - 7 September.

The selection panel's approach to searching for distinctive wines with a rarity factor has resulted in 24 fewer wines this year and a significant reduction in total volumes on offer from last year - from 28 000 litres in 2012 to just over 12 000 litres in 2013.

"We're looking to find the good wines. We're not looking to be overly critical, but rather to allow the good wines to shine and stand out," said London-based wine writer and judge, Jamie Goode, one of the leading selection panel members for Auction 2013.

"The 2013 selection is again indicative of the Auction's declared drive to offer truly cutting edge, rare wines," comments auction manager, Dalene Steyn. "We believe that the different perspectives and divergence of opinion provided by this year's selection panel made it a very healthy, stringent process, the outcome of which are excellent local wines that show the best potential in terms of wine appreciation, maturation and collectability status."

The collection includes 72 red wines (8115.75 litres), 38 white wines (3523.5 litres), one Method Cap Classique (135 litres), eight dessert wines (267.75 litres) and 14 Fortified wines (473.4 litres).

It is one of the most exclusive selections of wines to come under the hammer in recent years, offering great variety across a wide range of vintages, some as young as four years old and others that boast a strong history dating back as far as the 1940s. There are 80 wineries represented, including debut participants Aaldering, Calitzdorp, Claime d'Or, Haskell Vineyards, Heron Ridge, Meerlust and Mullineux.

The smaller volume offering centres around a special, original, authentic selection of wines designed to appeal to a local and international buyer audience, highlighting South Africa's creativity and further enhanced by the Nederburg Auction Selection seal of endorsement that is affixed to all bottles sold at the event.

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