Each charity lot comprises 12 bottles – two bottles each of six different Cape Winemakers Guild wines from previous auctions selected from the Guild’s temperature controlled vinoteque.
Every year the Guild members contribute towards noteworthy charity items to be auctioned off in aid of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust, sponsors of the Protégé Programme, a mentorship scheme for talented winemakers and viticulturists.
Final year protégés have the opportunity to plough back into the programme with their own protégé wines sold at gala dinners in Johannesburg and Cape Town. At this year’s Johannesburg gala dinner, Protégé Banele Vakele’s Tembela 2017 red blend raised R50,000 for two bottles. Third-year Protégé, Sydney Mello’s The Custodian Chardonnay 2017 Méthode Cap Classique brought in R27,000, while Maryna Huysamen’s Longshot Semillon 2017 was sold for R25,000.
In addition to the guild’s own fundraising initiatives, Nedbank has donated R750,000 through the Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust to the 2018 Protégé Programme. Other organisations which support the programme include Amorim Cork, the Cape Cooperage Group, African Cellar Suppliers, Vinpro, Consol Glass, and Hofmeyr Mills Auctioneers.
Established in 2006, the CWG Protégé Programme gives aspirant winemakers and viticulturists the opportunity of working side-by-side with members of the Guild. By cultivating, nurturing and empowering promising individuals to become winemakers and viticulturists, the programme plays an active role in the long-term health and sustainability of the winemaking industry.
The charity lots will be sold amongst a 2018 auction line-up comprising 48 uniquely crafted wines comprising 31 reds, 14 whites, two Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) wines and one port-style wine at the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction.
The 34th Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction, conducted by Henré Hablutzel of Hofmeyr Mills Auctioneers, will take place on Saturday, 29 September 2018 from 9am at the Spier Conference Centre in the Stellenbosch Winelands.
