The world-renowned Nederburg Wine Auction has appointed Anthony Barne, a Master of Wine at Bonhams, the international fine art and antiques auction house, as its new auctioneer.

The event, one of the best known in the wine world is set on the breathtakingly beautiful Nederburg Vineyard in Paarl, surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery. The wine auction takes place each September, springtime in the Cape, and attracts bidding from all over the world.The annual Nederburg Sale is run by the South African company Distell.

Anthony Barne¹ comments: “We are delighted with this prestigious appointment. Nederburg² undoubtedly stands alongside the Hospices de Beaune as one of the two best known individual wine auctions in the world. It features superb wines which have been rigorously screened by a tasting panel; the wine must be made specifically for the sale and not be available on the open market. Like the Hospices de Beaune in Burgundy, the main sale on Friday 3rd September is only open to trade buyers, often bidding on behalf of private clients, but following the second part on Saturday 4th there is a charity auction open to private buyers. This is a very high profile event which attracts much international coverage and world-wide bidding.”

Bonhams has almost single-handedly built an international market for South African Art, achieving world record prices for Irma Sterns, Pierneefs and Sekotos. Now it has a chance to show on South Africa soil what it can do for wine auctioneering.

1. Anthony Barne made the small step from the Army to the wine trade in 1978, having developed the interest while serving on the Governor of Gibraltar’s staff. His wine trade career started in a wine shop, followed by a brief spell working at Domaine Thenard in Burgundy and Seppelts in South Australia. Until 1992 he worked in mail order and wine buying, first with Hicks & Don, for whom he still acts as buying consultant, and then Harveys of Bristol. Since then he has been a wine auctioneer, currently working for Bonhams in London as UK Head of Wine. As an auctioneer Anthony’s main pre-occupation is with the classic wine regions of France and also Vintage Port and Madeira, but he has many other interests which include Austria, for which he is a judge at the Decanter Wine Awards, Germany, Tokaji and Australia. South African wines have always been a part of his life and he hopes to have the opportunity of getting to know them in much greater detail through his association with the Nederburg Auction. [↩]
2. The first auction on the Nederburg Wine Estate was held in 1975 and has since become an annual event where buyers from all over the world attend to buy the special wines produced at the Cape. Since its early beginnings Nederburg has grown to be a giant in the wine industry of the Cape. It now has the capacity to process in excess 16,000 tons of grapes per annum through its automated plant and produces hundreds of thousands of bottles of wine each year.

   Nederburg also produces speciality wines from grapes grown in selected vineyards which are transported to the farm where they are processed into some of the most extraordinary wines you can buy anywhere. [↩]