Bottle of Grand Constance 1821 sells for close to R1m
By Christian Eedes, 15 September 2021
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Multiple records were smashed on last night’s Strauss & Co Virtual Live Auction that featured five single bottle lots of South African wines as part of the combined art and wine Impression / Expression catalogue.
Most notably, a bottle of Grand Constance 1821 fetched a staggering R967 300 including commission, doubling an earlier record achieved at the Cape Fine & Rare Wine Auction in May this year – see here.
Chateau Libertas 1957 and GS Cabernet Sauvignon 1966 both achieved R91 040, record prices for red South African wines. Both bottles have recently been re-corked, ensuring perfect condition and longevity.
Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 1987, the first commercial vintage of this wine, achieved R34 140, while a 275ml bottle of the Jaubert Family Muscat d’Alexandrie, drawn from a 115L barrel in care of the Joubert family for more than 200 years and seven generations, fetched R91 040.
The Strauss & Co fine wine auctions are a collaboration between Strauss & Co, SA’s leading fine wine merchant WineCellar.co.za and wine auction partner Higgo Jacobs.
Melvyn Minnaar | 15 September 2021
I was going to argue why these ridiculous prices have no relevance to or positive significance in the SA wine industry because these auctions are just rich people playing money games with invented or perceived value , but then I realized the shout-down from those folk was going to be irrationally noisy…