The 2016 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction: Distinctive Wines from South Africa (Sep 2016)

The 2016 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction: Distinctive Wines from South Africa

BY STEPHEN TANZER | SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

My annual late-summer tasting of the new crop of Cape Winemakers Guild auction wines has become one of my favorite group tastings of each year. The four dozen or so wines offered at each year’s auction provide a stunning overview of the remarkable diversity of South Africa’s wine industry. The membership of the Guild is a who’s who of the country’s most talented winemakers.

This year’s tasting gave me my first good look at the highly touted 2015 vintage, which most insiders consider to be one of the greatest vintages of South Africa’s modern era, and I have to say it offered the most consistently excellent set of CWG wines I have sampled to date. The 32nd annual CWG auction will be held at the Spier estate in Stellenbosch on Saturday, October 1. The CWG event is sponsored by Nedbank, one of South Africa's largest banks, whose Trust supports the education and social needs of farm workers, their families and their communities.

Subscriber Access Only

My annual late-summer tasting of the new crop of Cape Winemakers Guild auction wines has become one of my favorite group tastings of each year. The four dozen or so wines offered at each year’s auction provide a stunning overview of the remarkable diversity of South Africa’s wine industry. A weak South African rand in conjunction with highly distinctive wines of consistently high quality make this year’s CWG auction a unique buying opportunity for international wine lovers.