Edelkeur
Nederburg has a firmly focused line-up of top-level wines featured on the 2013 Nederburg Auction, and has welcomed the organisers' revised and tauter selection approach this year.
The auction has always been a showcase for excellence. Now this year, the super quality criterion has once again been coupled with singularity, amplifying the collectability status of the special cuvées available, while staying true to the original ethos of the annual event, now in its 39th year.
Commenting on the Nederburg wines chosen by the selection panel, cellar master Razvan Macici said: "This is a healthy development in the evolution of the auction. With the wider availability of exceptional quality wines globally through a variety of channels, it becomes essential to present auction bidders with options deemed truly original or unique, and we are proud to be amongst those having such limited-edition wines to offer.
"This is clear, concise line-up of our best rare wines offered in a range of lot sizes to cater to a variety of retail and on-trade bidders.
"Buyers will notice, for example that this year, we have only the 1980 and 2005 vintages of Edelkeur and the 1988 and 2007 vintages of Eminence on offer."
Both the wines from the 1980s were made by Günter Brözel, who developed a legendary reputation for Nederburg sweet wines. Macici, who was first exposed to wines in this style by his father, Mihai (who enjoyed similarly iconic status in his native Romania), won the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year title last year for his sweet wines.
"This year we have an ideal opportunity to demonstrate our versatility with three very different expressions of Sauvignon blanc that will come under the hammer in September.
"Ranging from four to six years old, these are all age-worthy wines, showing the benefit of their cooler climate provenance but each sourced from differing areas. There's the once-off, 2009 II Centuries Sauvignon Blanc, made from fruit picked from individually selected vines in Cape Agulhas and Darling and left on the fermentation lees for 12 months before racking and blending. The wine was judged the best wooded Sauvignon blanc at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. It's very fresh but layered with crisp fruit and herb notes.
"Darling fruit features again in the 2009 Private Bin D234, where we have grapes from a single vineyard in Groenekloof area but here the wine shows fig, grass and tropical characters. Then we have the 2007 Private Bin D215 that at six years' old is showing absolutely remarkable vitality. Made from Durbanville grapes, it literally sings with flavours of pineapple, gooseberry and green apple and has a lively, very appealing acidity that enhances its overall balance."
The 2009 Private Bin D253 is a blend of Darling Sauvignon blanc and Durbanville Chardonnay and a Platter five-star wine, while the 2009 D270 Chardonnay, from a really exceptional vintage for the varietal, is a creamy, fully oak-fermented wine that spent 13 months in French wood.
Macici said he was especially delighted that three 2001 reds, made in his maiden year at Nederburg, were amongst those chosen by the local and international selection panel. They include the Private Bins R181 Merlot, the R104 Petit Verdot and the R109 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend. "They have all matured into elegant, soft-textured and nuanced wines with plenty of life and layering in them yet."
Other Nederburg reds on offer include the 2005 vintage of the velvety rich Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from Darling and Philadelphia grapes, a best-in-class gold medallist at the International Wine & Spirit Competition and also a Veritas double gold winner; the 2006 vintage of the same wine that won gold at the Decanter World Wine Awards, as well as the 2007 R181 Merlot, another Veritas double gold medallist.
The Nederburg Auction takes place on Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7, 2013.
