In a bold move for Strauss & Co, the auction house is set to launch their first fine wine auctions, with the first taking place in Johannesburg on 8 June, and the second in Cape Town in September.
It’s a joint venture with Wine Cellar fine wine merchants and expert sommelier Higgo Jacobs and together they’ll ensure quality and provenance of the auction lots.
The venture aims to provide a transparent auction platform that introduces prospective buyers to a selection of South Africa’s finest wines curated by wine expert and judge Higgo Jacobs, previously the chairperson of the South African Sommelier Association. The quality of the lots will be ensured by the expertise of Wine Cellar fine wine merchants, managers of the largest fine wine cellar in Africa with decades of experience.
Strauss & Co executive chairperson, Frank Kilbourn believes the time is right to elevate South African wines to the same degree of collectability as the visual and decorative arts. “We are delighted to team up with such credible partners in bringing an exciting new asset class to our client base.”
Extreme rarities such as Lanzerac 1957 and GS 1966 will be offered from assured provenances. Vintage lots will be checked, recorked and barcoded for future trade. More recent icons such as Kanonkop, Klein Constantia, Boekenhoutskloof and Vilafonte will also be offered, along with modern greats by the Sadie family. Lots will be sourced directly from leading producers as well as approved private cellars.
“As prices rise, we have naturally had more brokerage requests. We see a serious opportunity for an open-market auction,” says Roland Peens, director of Wine Cellar.
More information will be released closer to the time of the auction on straussart.co.za and winecellar.co.za
