Cape Wine Auction 2017 report

Mike Ratcliffe, managing director of the Warwick winery in Stellenbosch, dreamt up the concept of the Cape Wine Auction four years ago after being influenced by a similar initiative in the Napa Valley that subsidises health costs.

This year’s auction raised 22.3 million rand (£1.3m) for charity at the Anthonij Rupert Wine Estate in Franschhoek. The funds will go towards the laudable cause of supporting education in South Africa’s winelands, with 22 projects selected for aid.

“This huge sum comfortably beats our previous record,” Radcliffe said, praising the generosity of the 300 guests who paid £300 each for a ticket to the lunch auction last weekend.

“It has made, and will make, a massive difference to lives of disadvantaged children and youngsters in the western Cape winelands. We have seen the shift in the areas which we have supported, and that shift could now become a wave of change,” Radcliffe added.

The previous three CWA events – at Delaire Graf (in 2014), Boschendaal (2015) and Klein Constantia (2016) – raised a combined total of over R31m.

Last year’s venue saw the highest previous sum of R15m. Last weekend’s auction items featured 20 barrels of wine donated by various wineries at La Motte on Friday night, followed by 37 lots at the L’Ormarins estate the next day.

The lots were made up of a cornucopia of donated ‘goodies’ – from cases of special wine to holidays in California, France, Switzerland, London and Croatia as well as safaris.

The highest bid of R3m (about £175,000) was for a weeklong stay in Napa at the home of the owners of the Staglin Family Vineyard.

“The Staglin Family was pleased to provide the R3 million lot and the additional Napa Valley bidding support to help such a worthy cause achieve such a great result. The children of South Africa deserve every dollar raised from this important event,” said estate co-owner Garen Staglin.

Johann Rupert, owner of L’Ormarins, donated two tickets for this year’s Wimbledon men’s singles final as well as 20 bottles from his cellar of top South African labels from the 1970s and ‘80s.

These included Rustenberg Cabernet Sauvignon 1978 and Meerlust Rubicon 1982. The lot fetched the equivalent of just under £100,000. Rupert himself paid around £40,000 for a lot of eight cases of assorted wine, including one of Yquem. The CWA Trust’s philanthropy model is as impressive as it is uplifting.

The six trustees, who include Ratcliffe, WOSA chief executive Siobhan Thompson, and Wendy Applebaum, owner of the winery De Morgenzon and a renowned philanthropist, allocate 35% to early childhood development, 30% to children aged 7 to 15, 25% to teenagers aged 16-17 and 10% to those 18 or over.

The projects backed are varied, but start with literacy, nutrition and health support as well as social services and parental back-up. Then comes schemes to aid numeracy, learning to read, physical development and self-esteem.

Outside of school hours, older children get taught trades, gain access to sports halls, and are taught the importance of life skills and not dropping out; finally, they get help with passing final school exams, finding employment and parental education.

Financial assistance is given to those wanting to take WSET exams or join the South African Sommeliers Association.

“It’s uncanny how we’ve raised almost exactly 50% more than each previous CWA,” a delighted Ratcliffe said.

“I don’t think anyone believed this would be possible but donors are reacting well to our innovative mode of giving. It’s essential people see efficiency, and our great strength is that we have zero overheads.

All costs, like the marquees at the auction, are paid for by our sponsors, Nedbank Private Wealth and American Express.”