Saturday was certainly a day for the wine record books with price records falling like nine pins at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction in the morning and then the inaugural gala dinner of the Garagiste Association in the evening. The Garagistes probably had the better food as their do was at La Mouette in Sea Point while the Auction was at Spier, as usual. In the past, the food has been so dire Mr. Delivery was seriously proposed as an alternative. Quite why the CWG choose Spier is a mystery as even higher prices could be expected if the event were held at Summer Place in Hyde Park.
Johannesburg was on my mind as after a blind tasting, the Parks 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon was voted best red wine of the year. Made in Sandton, you can buy 24 bottles for the price of one Paul Sauer 2012, which is over 2/3 Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon. And so quite similar to the Parks which hails from the vineyard next door to the one growing fruit for the Rustenberg flagship Peter Barlow. Two Simonsberg heavyweight Cabs.
Is Paul Sauer really worth twenty four times as much as the Parks? Clearly so to the folks who buy pretension by the bottle. But for my money, sponsors Nedbank can keep the top end of a pyramid they’ve created. Commentators comment that the Auction result is a triumph for SA wine. I beg to differ and would suggest that when Mammon defeats Bacchus, there is little to celebrate.
The activities of the Garagistes are far more important than the food fights of Richie Rich and the gravy train gang whose buds are so jaded, they need affirmation from barkers and shills to stock their cellars. The same “authorities” who raved about the R20,000 tastings of the White Club before that bubble burst. The “authorities” got freebees to the tastings, of course.
And as for the restaurants and hotels who fill their boots with bottles bought for thousands to be priced in the tens of thousands on their Diners Club lauded wine lists (where value is not a criterion), I say “good luck.” I’d rather stay at the Bannister in Braamfontein, anyway. And for dinner, I’d rather bring my own and eat from a kitchen which specializes in food rather than trophy wines.
