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Each year, one of the most anticipated events in the South African calendar is the Cape Winemakers Guild annual auction. Ad it\u2019s coming up next weekend. Special lots of wines made by the Guild\u2019s members are sold off, badged with the famous CWG auction label. These represent some of the Cape\u2019s finest wines, and they fetch high prices.<\/p>\n
Back in 1981, when the Cape Winemakers\u2019 Guild was first formed, the South African wine scene was very different to how it is today. One of the founder members of the CWG, Kevin Arnold of Waterford Estate, recalls how the organization began as a way for isolated winemakers in the Cape to share knowledge and taste more widely. The inaugural meeting consisted of just five winemakers tasting through all Bordeaux five first growths. Since then, the CWG has grown, the South African wine industry has matured, and it is now a multifaceted winemakers\u2019 association. As well as the high profile auction of CWG wines held each year, there are monthly meetings where the members get together and taste and discuss. And there\u2019s also a mentoring aspect where young winemakers are helped along their journey by more experienced colleagues.<\/p>\n
The auction wines are chosen in a blind-tasting format. Winemakers enter small, exclusive lots of wine and these are then entered. Once they have been accepted, they can only be sold at the auction, and the maximum quantity for the auction is 100 cases.<\/p>\n
Particular strengths this year were Chardonnay and Shiraz. \u2018For me collectively it is the best grouping of Chardonnays I have seen in the Auction,\u2019 says Arnold. Boela Gerber thinks the strength of Shiraz is that it responds so well to the diversity of growing conditions found in the Cape.<\/p>\n
I tasted through many of the auction wines, and these are my notes.<\/p>\n
Graham Beck Wines Non Plus Ultra MCC 2008 Western Cape, South Africa<\/strong> Ntida Swan Song Sauvignon Blanc 2015 Durbanville, South Africa<\/strong> Cederberg Ghost Corner Semillon 2015 Elim, South Africa<\/strong> Mullineux Clairette Blanche 2015 Swartland, South Africa<\/strong> Simonsig Mediterraneo 2015 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Beaumont Family Wines \u2018Morse Moer\u2019 Chening Blanc 2015 Bot River, South Africa Waterford Estate \u201988 Kept Aside Chardonnay 2015 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Tokara Siberia Chardonnay 2015 Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa<\/strong> Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Seadragon Pinot Noir 2015 Upper Hemel-en-Aarde, South Africa<\/strong> Gottfried Mocke Wine Projects Pinot Noir 2015 Coastal Region, South Africa<\/strong> Groot Constantia Auction Shiraz 2014 Constantia, South Africa<\/strong> Saronsberg Sneeusig Shiraz 2012 Tulbagh, South Africa<\/strong> Strydom Family Wines The Expatriate Cabernet Sauvignon\/Shiraz 2013 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Rust En Vrede CWG Auction Estate 2013 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Jordan Sophia 2013 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2013 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Etienne Le Riche Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Hartenberg CWG Auction Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Beyerskloof Traildust Pinotage 2014 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Boplaas Cape Auction Reserve 2009 Western Cape, South Africa<\/strong> Paul Cluver Auction Reserve Pinot Noir 2014 Elgin, South Africa<\/strong> Neil Ellis Insignium 2013 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Mullineux Trifecta Syrah 2013 Swartland, South Africa<\/strong> Boekenhoutskloof Syrah Reserve 2014 Western Cape, South Africa<\/strong> Boschkloof Epilogue Syrah 2014 Stellenbosch, South Africa<\/strong> Each year, one of the most anticipated events in the South African calendar is the Cape Winemakers Guild annual auction. Ad it\u2019s coming up next weekend. Special lots of wines…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[374],"class_list":["post-15782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-south-africa","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15782"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15789,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15782\/revisions\/15789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n81% Chardonnay, 19% Pinot Noir. Lovely depth here: has some toast and spice too. Very fine with ripe apple, peach and citrus as well as a nice spiciness. Generous but focused. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Benhard Veller. Elegant grassy, pure, focused nose. Wild ferment with a portion in French oak. Lovely elegance and concentration here with real finesse and lovely subtle grassy green notes. It\u2019s a beautiful grassy green, complemented by grapefruit and passionfruit. A lovely wine. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom David Nieuwoudt. 13.5% alcohol. 8 h skin contact and 50% barrel fermented in one year old oak. Such a distinctive wine with a striking grassy, green nose and palate. Hints of blackcurrant and spice with citrus and herbs. So fresh and grassy with an almost saline edge. It\u2019s a remarkable wine that some people will hate, but I really like it. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Andrea Mullineux. 40 year old dry farmed vineyard on Paardeberg granite. Delicate, lemony and pure with a hint of pear richness. Nice weight on the palate: quite refined and primary at the moment with hints of toast and wax. Pretty. Give it time. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\nJohan Malan makes this. 66% Roussanne, 28% Grenache Blanc, 6% Verdelho. Seasoned French oak for fermentation. Complex, fresh and nutty with some ripe apple, some pear and nectarine with a rich texture and a bit of cedary oak, but it meshes really well with the flavours working in harmony. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>From Sebastian Beaumont. Made from bulk-filtered solids, barrel fermented, naturally fermented. Amazing matchstick flintiness here, with a lovely mineral acidity. Fantastic precision and detail, with beautifully managed reduction alongside the spice, apples and pears with a lively citrus kick. So delightful and complex. 94\/100
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\nThis is a vineyard selection from a corner on granite soil with no irrigation, almost 30 year old vines. Very fresh with complex notes of wax, grapefruit and herbs. Lovely texture here with some apple and pear character. Has lovely breadth and some understated minerality and power. Such good acidity. This is lovely. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\nWild ferment, barrel-fermented (one third new). Unfiltered and unfined, and picked early with higher acidity. Full malolactic. Decomposed sandstone soils, giving perfume and vibrancy. Supple and focused with pear and white peach. Lovely texture with mineral undercurrents to the fruit. Textured and appealing with lovely precision here. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\nOne hectare block that normally goes into the Family Pinot Noir, with no sulphur dioxide in the winemaking. From broken claystone in the granitic soil \u2013 a specific subplot of the vineyard. Fine, expressive, elegant slightly spicy refined red cherry and plum fruit. Has finesse, detail and texture. So delicious and pure with real refinement and a delicious sappy green edge. Such finesse. 95\/100<\/p>\n![\"OLYMPUS](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/P9050906-500x333.jpg\")
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\nWild ferment, 15% whole bunch, 50% new oak. A unique inland site at high altitude, between Villiersdorp and Worcester. In a small valley, Kaimansgaat. Incredibly aromatic spicy nose with ginger and herbs. Powerful, pure, grippy and youthful with a slight mintiness. Very tight and focused with some elegance but also bold, vivid red fruit character. Distinctive. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\nBoela Gerber. This is from a gravel ridge. The focus is on perfume and elegance, says Boela. Aromatic, fresh and quite expressive with lovely blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. Grippy and a bit minty on the palate with nice purity and balance. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Dewaldt Heyns. Sweet and intense with rich, spicy black cherry and blackberry fruit. Nice freshness allied to the ripeness, with lovely bold flavours and oak meshing well with the ripe fruit. Generous but balanced.<\/p>\n
\n60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Shiraz. Slopes of the Helderberg. Lovely pure aromatics on the nose of sleek black fruits. Lovely elegant, supple black fruit on the palate with a bit of grip and sleek ripe fruit complemented by some spicy oak, which hides in the background. There\u2019s lovely freshness to this wine, and fruit purity. Ripe but elegant. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\n60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah, 5% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. From Coenie Snyman. This is 100% new oak, and you can taste it: it\u2019s spicy and cedary with ripe black fruits. Bold, with a bit of heat from the 15% alcohol. Dense and spicy with a modern feel to it. Has a bit of freshness but it\u2019s too international for me. 89\/100<\/p>\n
\n56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc. From Gary Jordan. Supple and elegant with a lovely roundness to the blackcurrant and plum fruit. Ripe but balanced with a nice fine-grained, chalky tannic structure under the generous fruit. Lovely depth here; this should age nicely. 93\/100<\/p>\n![\"OLYMPUS](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/P9050908-500x333.jpg\")
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\nFrom Abrie Breeslar, this comes from 28 year old vines in the Simonsberg. It\u2019s 69% Cabernet Sauvignon with 17% Cabernet Franc and 14% Merlot. Fine, herb tinged raspberry and blackcurrant fruit nose. Has a lovely liqueur-like edge to the fruit. The palate is really pure with sleek red and black fruits backed up by good acidity and tannic structure. This should really age well. Juicy and grippy with lovely focus. 95\/100<\/p>\n
\n100% Cabernet Sauvignon, from the Jonkershuik, aged in new oak. 14.7% alcohol. Generous, pure and silky with lovely ripe blackcurrant fruit. It\u2019s ripe but has lovely balance with some grainy, chalky notes hiding under the ripe black fruits. Great concentration here and it ageing really nicely with the oak swallowed up by the fruit. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Carl Schultz. 70% new and 30% used oak for 21 months. Generous with a strong core of bright blackcurrant fruit. Tight and quite structured with lovely pure fruit. Great concentration and depth here. Hints of olive and herbs, too. Grippy finish suggests this has a way to go. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Beyers Truter. 14.7% alcohol, 20 months in new French oak. Powerful, grippy and spicy with firm tannins, good acidity and sweet, cedary new oak. A concentrated, tight wine of real intensity that\u2019s primary and intense and need lots of time. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Carel Nel. Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barocca, Sous\u00e3o. Made in lagares. Ripe, sweet and concentrated with nice fresh blackberry and cherry fruit and some grip. There\u2019s a warm spiciness here, and a hint of raisin. Quite delicious. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Andries Burger. Sweet, juicy cherry and plum fruit with some cedary notes. Grippy and structured with nice precision and some peppery characters. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Neil Ellis. Supple, textured and juicy with nice sweet berry and black fruits with some grip and fine pepper characters. An elegant style. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\nLovely meat and olive savouriness with some olive tapenade character alongside the ripe fruit. Raspberry and cherry with some mint. Fresh and elegant. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Marc Kent. Supple, fresh and focused. This is a very elegant style with some floral raspberry and black cherry fruit. Subtle meatiness and real finesse with some nice pepper notes. An elegant style. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\nFrom Jacques Boorman. Sweet liqueur-like cherry fruit nose. Ripe, supple and balanced with brightness to the raspberry and cherry fruit. A lovely wine in an elegant style. 93\/100<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"