Wednesday Wines – Episode 284 – 2025 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction 3 & 4 October 2025
2025 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Tasting Live & Online
This Friday and Saturday, the annual Cape Winemakers Guild Auction will take place at The Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, just outside Cape Town, South Africa. The precise timings are 12:30 – 20:00 on October 4th and 09:00 – 15:00 on October 5th. I am assured that the earlier-than-usual finish on Saturday is to accommodate the Springboks playing Argentina at 16:00!
Last week, an esteemed group of South African winemakers (pictured below, left to right – Gary Jordan from Jordan Wine Estate, Adi Badenhorst from AA Badenhorst Family Wines, Samantha O’Keefe from Lismore, Duncan Savage from Savage Wines, JD Pretorius from Warwick Wine Estate) opened all 47 of the wines offered for sale in this year’s fabulous auction, and I tasted every single wine.
I urge you to register to bid at the Strauss Art web address below to get well and truly immersed in this incredible wine auction, featuring some of the most remarkable and collectable bottles ever offered for sale in the 41-year history of this event. The wines are all specially selected, covering a multitude of styles, and as always, I have picked out my highest scorers for you to admire and hopefully acquire. This epic collection of 16 (gold medal-scoring wines – 18.5/20 and above) represents the pinnacle of production from the most talented winemakers in South Africa, and every wine is genuinely world-class. I wish you all a very successful bidding bonanza.
The Cape Winemakers Guild Auction 2025 – Register online at www.straussart.co.za and see the entire auction catalogue.
2019 Graham Beck, CWG Extra Brut Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, Cap Classique, Western Cape (catalogue page 60)
This wine is Pieter Ferreira’s last wine under the Graham Beck label in the CWG programme before he moves to his own label. In this respect, it is a milestone. But it is also a stunning paean to his extraordinary legacy at Graham Beck. While there are two GB sparklers in the catalogue, I urge you to exercise caution, as this 2019 vintage is far superior to the 2018 vintage. With untold grace and aromatic lift, coupled with cleansing acidity and impressive length, this is a remarkable sign-off and a wine that will evolve beautifully over the coming decade. 18.5/20
2024 David & Nadia, Veiling Chenin Blanc, Swartland (catalogue page 29)
Goodness me, this wine has a stunning nose and amazing depth of fruit considering its diminutive 11.5% alcohol chassis. Veiling is a brittle, lean, and kinetic wine with beautifully pliable fruit, and it is so much more interesting than the ocean liners of Sauvignon Blanc, even though it fulfils this grape’s job with epic panache and élan. Super-long, raspy, delicate and amazingly well-balanced, this is an ethereally enticing wine with global appeal. 18.5/20
2024 Raats Family Wines, Fountain Terroir Specific Chenin Blanc, Polkadraai Hills, Stellenbosch (catalogue page 26)
From the very first molecule of delivery, this is a kaleidoscopically enchanting wine with pin-sharp Cape Floral Kingdom hallmarks, which mark it as a truly fluent ambassador for not only its variety, terroir, and maker but also its country’s uniqueness, with this effortlessly engaging style of white wine. Refined, mineral-soaked, and stunningly restrained, it is the composure here that makes an impact, given the grandeur of the fruit, which many might feel needs to lead the way. However, this creator understands that it can wait a while to allow it to perform at its peak down the track. This is breathtaking winemaking and one of Bruwer’s finest to date. 19/20
2024 Mullineux, The Gris Old Vine Semillon, Swartland (catalogue page 31)
This wine is made from the Semillon Gris grape. From 2025, Chris and Andrea Mullineux will be permitted to record this grape variety’s name on this wine’s label thanks to their diligence and determination to reward this rare variety with its own identity. Sexy, ripe, tropical and exotic, with a superbly alluring texture and curious gingerlily spice notes over pineapple-kissed fruit, this is a thrilling wine, and while the expressive fruit that subsumes the senses on the nose and palate makes one think it will finish with a flourish, it clamps down with spectacular acidity and control! In the end, a seemingly lush wine is, in fact, a sleek, beguilingly complex creature with an extraordinarily calm core. 18.5/20
2024 Thorne & Daughters, Sand Castles, Olifantsrivier & Swartland (catalogue page 39)
I did not expect to taste a ‘Bordeaux blend’ that would make this highly competitive set of excellent wines, but this terrific Sem/Sauv is made from elite ingredients that have been welded together with consummate skill. Bold, ripe and juicy, and complemented with stunningly layered oak notes, this is a rare beauty! It appears drier than a Chardonnay, but every bit as structured and commanding, and the bonus here is shivery acidity, superb citrus pith and sea spray notes that Chardonnay rarely deports. This is a gorgeous discovery for me, and a wine that shows an innate understanding of how to assemble a soaring, yet slender, tower of dramatic flavour in one fell swoop! 18.5/20
2023 Newton Johnson Family Vineyards, Sandford Chardonnay, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley (catalogue page 40)
Only serious Chardonnay lovers need read on – this is not a bouncy, frivolous wine, but a firm, powerful and structured Chardonnay with an extraordinary life ahead of it. I shudder to type this, but this is the sort of wine that requires decades of knowledge of this variety to predict its future. I am certain that while this is not a superficially attractive wine now, I have seen so many stern, mineral-driven wines over decades that inform me this wine will be a tour de force given time. Keep the faith, because Sandford is a Grand Cru sleeper wine like no other in this year’s line-up. 18.5/20
2024 Paul Clüver Family Wines, The Wagon Trail Chardonnay, Elgin (catalogue page 32)
This is one of the most impressive Cape Chardonnays I have tasted. While the Newton Johnson wine requires experience, The Wagon Trail will amaze newcomers and seasoned wine enthusiasts alike with its magical nose and palate. The balance is sensational, and there is a trademark Clüver sense of glossiness and professionalism that is mesmerising. Planted in 1987, this wine comes from the oldest block of Chardonnay in Elgin. Superbly delicate and stunningly balanced, I cannot remember tasting such a complete wine at this tender age, and its future is guaranteed to be nothing short of spectacular. 19/20
2024 Lismore Estate Vineyards, Valkyrie Chardonnay, Greyton (catalogue page 34)
This plot of Chardonnay, situated in one of the country’s coolest microclimates, is a testament to Samantha O’Keefe’s commitment to her region of Greyton. And this wine is conclusive proof that her vision is unwaveringly accurate. Fermented and aged in 500-litre foudres, with 25% new barrels, this is a fascinating wine, with a layered and melodic style, with a lifted and open perfume and a stunningly bright and elegant palate. Refined and enchanting, there is a degree of precision here that many of the more structured wines lack. I imagine this is Greyton’s signature, and I am thrilled that Samantha has brought this character to our global attention. 18.5/20
2024 Jordan Wine Estate, CWG Chardonnay, Stellenbosch (catalogue page 48)
Unusually bright, light and aerial and somewhat different to the other wines in this year’s auction in terms of texture, weight, and penetration of fruit, this is a benchmark example of why the Jordans have been at the forefront of Cape Chardonnay for decades. Lovely and pure with undeniable silkiness and allure, this CWG Chardonnay manages to maintain cadence and impact, without ever stepping over the line into summoning up its latent power or mineral reserves. 18.5/20
2023 Newton Johnson Family Vineyards, Windandsea Pinot Noir, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley (catalogue page 59)
This is a beautiful wine. While many Pinots these days lack colour, perfume, and depth of fruit, this superbly appointed wine is remarkably beautiful, floral, perfumed, and gentle, with notes of cherry and plum, and a stunning, fine-grained, and genuinely medium-bodied palate. The oak is perfectly managed, and the finish is super-long. What more could you ask for? And yes, this is the second wine in this elite collection for Newton Johnson! 18.5/20
2024 Ataraxia, Sympathy For The Pinot Pinot Noir, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge (catalogue page 16)
This is the very first Pinot I have ever written up from the hand of Kevin Grant. It is sourced from his farm on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, and I find it masochistically fascinating, with its captivating, angular stance, dressed in near-flamboyant perfumes, flavours, and uncommon silkiness, and shot through with invigorating minerality, and not a little sternness. While I find many of Kevin’s wines reliably questioning, this is a wistful, perceptive Pinot, and that is precisely the characteristic that makes it a genuine CWG curio. It ought to be adored by keen auction-goers and collectors alike. 18.5/20
2024 AA Badenhorst Family Wines, Out Of The Strong Comes Forth Freshness Carignan, Swartland (catalogue page 46)
I never thought a Carignan would appear in this annual vinous celebration, but it makes perfect sense that if one did make the grade, it would flow from Adi Badenhorst’s hands. Fascinating and floral, clean and vibrant, this wine is somewhat of a joker in the pack, but it is beautifully balanced with epic, purple fruit and little tannin to speak of. Not one for the cellar, but the table, and I venture that everyone who tastes this wine will talk of little else until they have sung the Carignan song loud and proud to all their friends. During the tasting, Adi made the finest quip of the gathering, noting that his Carignan is so bright and juicy that those Pinot producers from Hemel-en-Aarde might have been spotted early in the morning, liberating his grapes to bring heft and intensity to their own cool climate wines, while singing, “Take me to the Ridge”! Clever lad, and very funny. No one will forget that line or his wine.
2023 Rall Wines, Noa Syrah, Swartland (catalogue page 41)
Quite simply, the most arresting and impactful wine of the event. And while I have selected 16 (plus one, see below) wines that I feel are extraordinary, this is the most seductive of them all. It will inevitably attract attention, and I suspect the price will skyrocket. Still, Donvan Rall can make Syrah, as I have said many times over the last 15 years, and this is not only one of the greatest South African Syrahs I have tasted, but it is up there with a handful of wines made from this grape from every corner of the earth this year. With a stunning nose and epic fruit density, I cannot believe that this level of glamour and luxury can be embedded in a wine of only 12.7% alcohol. This is stardust in a glass. 19.5/20
2023 Savage Wines, Auction Syrah, Coastal (catalogue page 22)
The Syrah grape takes all forms, and Duncan Savage’s profound example is exquisite. He shuns gloss and brawn for spice, chypre and traction, with sprinklings of minerality and ozone that make this a mouth-watering, keenly savoury and resonant wine. This is a genuinely medium-weight Syrah with engaging brightness, purity and spice, and the underlying reason for this wine’s melodic stance is the clever blend of 2/3 maritime-influenced Stellenbosch fruit and 1/3 lustier Swartland Syrah, with no new oak whatsoever blurring the view. I venture that punters will drink two bottles of this wine to one of the more structured creations. Clever stuff! 18.5/20
2023 Boschkloof, CWG Conclusion, Stellenbosch (catalogue page 61)
It’s worth pointing out that this wine and the 2023 Boschkloof CWG Epilogue Syrah scored the same in my notes, and given I am a sucker for Cabernet / Syrah blends, Conclusion heads this entry! Please do not skip over the Epilogue, though, because it is a cracker. However, this 45% Cabernet Franc, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah is a stormer. Given its structure and succulence, this is still a perfectly balanced wine. It shows an amazing understanding of jigsawing these grapes together with no visible welds. Delicious, refined, and noble, and there are stunning, discreet tannins on the finish that keep it upright and polished to the end. For a BIG wine, this is a nimble fellow. 18.5/20
2022 Rock of Eye, CWG Auction Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch (catalogue page 25)
This is such a civilised wine, it defies comprehension. If you’re looking for drama and CGI excitement, look elsewhere. If, however, you adore long, balanced, effortlessly classy wines with purity and even-handed, stylish fruit, this is it! Perfumed, refined and genteel. What can I say? I certainly did not expect to find this degree of elegance in a 14.5% alc Cabernet from the Stellenbosch sweet spot! Again, this is what the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction is for! 18.5/20