A NEW record price for a South African wine, a steep increase in prices and great international interest in rare South African wines marked the 37th Nederburg Auction, held in Paarl on 16 and 17 September.
The overall income jumped to R6 133 840, up 8% from the R5,7 million fetched last year, but with about 19% less cases on offer.
The highlight was the record R68 000 paid for a single case of six 750 ml bottles of Monis Collectors Port 1948, which translated to R11 333 per bottle.
The special case of Port was bought by Nigerian businessman and wine importer Obi Josephat Ndibe. It is the second year in which Ndibe has surprised local buyers by snatching away some of the very rare wines in South Africa.
The previous highest price for one case of six 750 ml bottles was R62 000, paid last year for the 1964 Nederburg Port.
According to auction organisers, there is a new appreciation for the old and scarce South African red and fortified wines such as the 1948 Monis Port. This has led to an overall increase in prices achieved for both these categories.
Overseas buyers in particular showed a renewed interest in South African wines and were responsible for 46% of the overall wine sales, up from 30% last year.
Once again there has been a healthy increase in the average price paid for wines at the auction, with a 30% increase to R1 985 per nine litre case. The 2010 average was R1 506.
South African supermarket groups once again dominated the local portfolio of buyers, taking 26% of the sales directly to the consumers.
Top buyers were Checkers, followed by Spar and Metro Cash & Carry from Germany.
Distell MD Jan Scannell, commented that the increase in foreign interest is the result of Distell’s footprint increasing globally and the aim is to get the best local wines into countries abroad.
Carina Gous, Distell’s Business Director of Wines, commented that she was very pleased that there were no unsold lots at this year’s auction, an indication of the high quality and keen interest in the wines.
