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“SA’s greatest cellar for sale” proclaims the subject line in the e-mail from Dave Brice’s Cape Town Wine Cellar retail, brokerage and storage operation in Observatory. “Good day Wine lover. Wine Cellar is proud to be brokering one of SA’s finest wine cellars. Having tasted many wines from this lavish collection, we can guarantee their provenance as well as offer advice on any purchases. The cellar includes great vintages and producers from Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, Champagne, Piedmont and the Mosel. Highlights include…

- Chateau Petrus 1990 en-Magnum
- Romanée Conti 1976 – 2004
- Chateau La Mission Haut Brion 1961
- Comte de Vogue Musigny 1990
- Krug Clos de Mesnil 1985
- Gaja Sori Tildin 1990
- Guigal Cote Rotie La Landonne 1983
- Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1995 Salmanazar”

But a quick check on the prices being asked for these wines against those available on www.winesearcher.com reveals this to be far from the fire-sale of the century. Why pay R17 500 for a bottle of La Mission Haut Brion 1961 when you can buy the same thing from Fine & Rare Wines in London for R4 847, the saving of R12 653 more than enough to pay for the ticket. And while you are there, pick up a bottle of Château Cheval Blanc 1982 for R3 794 and save R6 206. Or call in at Farr Vintners for a bottle of Château Latour 1982 for R9 180 versus R19 500 in the Mother City. Is this what the airline’s ban on liquids in hand luggage has come down to?

Cheval Blanc earlier this year

Cheval Blanc earlier this year

The news earlier this week that Diageo’s Château & Estates operation is pulling out of Bordeaux and dumping R1.5 billion stock should further depress the prices of these wines. Uncorked will be sitting this one out.

The R3.5 million stellar cellar is property of radiologist Cornel Spies who recently emigrated to the East Coast of Australia. Cornel was fairy godfather to Swartland surfer Eben Sadie and partner in Eben’s Sequillo operation. As Eben vouchsafed “it will take us ten years to get into profit.” But with potential profits like these on his French stock, Cornel will probably not be seeking a financial bail-out.

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Comments

 

Arthur

December 5, 2009 at 6:20 am

The wines on sale are those leftover from the list offered to Cape Wine Masters and other experts.

 

Roland Peens

December 7, 2009 at 11:44 am

Neil

Since I priced the list and not David, best I reply to your remarks.
1) These are based on market-related retail prices.
2) I priced them at R13/£ that was current when the list was first offered out. Neither these prices nor Wine Cellar import prices are linked to the Sterling or Euro spot rate.
3) These bottles are here, in perfect condition and have excellent provenance.
4) You will need to pay VAT, transport, insurance and import costs at some point – all of which I doubt you have taken into account.
5) Some of these wines are so rare that they sometimes only appear briefly on the market and therefore the prices aren’t always available or constant.

Let’s take the LMHB 1961 as an example.
“Why pay R17 500 for a bottle of La Mission Haut Brion 1961 when you can buy the same thing from Fine & Rare Wines in London for R4 847”

London lists bottles available from £396 (mid-shoulder fill) to £2220 per bottle which, at R12.5/£ would land them between R5,700 and R32,000. Does R17,500 still seem unreasonable for a bottle that is in absolutely pristine condition with a fill-level well into the neck?

Frankly if you are spending these sorts of sums on a wine that has had decades of cellaring, would you not go for a higher-filled, better condition bottle from a trusted source?

Roland Peens
Wine Cellar

 

David Brice

December 8, 2009 at 7:57 am

Neil – adding to Roland’s response re the LMHB ’61 – please note that loose duty-paid bottles especially with qualifications (poor ullage, damaged labels – and US slip labels) are notoriously unreliable, high value wines (eg Bordeaux Firsts) loose their provenance (and investment value) once they are drawn from bond and the original cases are broken – they could have been anywhere and incorrectly stored, so not a wise buy particularly for a wine nearly 50 years old

 

Solly

December 8, 2009 at 10:54 am

Roland, Dave

Your prices are rip-offs. See http://www.wine-extra.co.za/

Regards!

 

?

December 8, 2009 at 11:51 am

Solly what are we suppose to deduct from the link you posted- other than ended up where we started?

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    Called "South Africa's most influential wine writer" by DrinksBiz, a "wijngoeroe" by De Telegraaf, a "Master of SA Writing" by Ernst Gouws and voted “most trusted palate” by readers of WINE magazine, Neil Pendock is South Africa’s leading Indie drinks commentator.

    An "enthusiastic amateur", he owns a small farm on the Paarderg which used to supply a few grapes to Swartland Winery, a producer he never wrote about. After two decades in the spittoon, he retains a healthy disregard for the anoraks, bowties and Emperors of drink and their new clothes.
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