In the spirit of things: Products on the first Cape Fine Brandy online auction being held by Strauss & Co
There were no blue makarapas with horns, two-tone shirts, macho pickups with bakkie ballas (aka truck nuts) or any Coke whatsoever at last week’s brandy tasting in Houghton, Johannesburg.
For that, one must drive north through the boerewors curtain.
This was a different story altogether — it was a sophisticated master class and tasting at the launch of the inaugural Cape Fine Brandy online auction, presented by Strauss & Co, known for its fine art and wine auctions.
The timed online sale, which started on 6 November and continues until 18 November, features a selection of the most rare, aged Cape brandies from South Africa’s top distillers.
We tasted eight delicious brandies, which are on this auction in various lot sizes, from Boplaas, Kaapzicht, KWV, Joseph Barry, Sydney Back and Van Ryn’s. They were aged in bespoke casks — some for two decades or more.
Unlike in Snor City, the outfits here are chic dresses, designer suits and bowties; European sedans in the parking lot and just a teaspoonful of glacier water added to the brandy (if you must).
The walls show off the work of South Africa’s finest artists (which are also to go under the Strauss & Co hammer soon).
Wine and brandy have a rich history in South Africa, since brandy is distilled from wine grapes. The spirit, often made from chenin blanc, has been a staple Cape commodity for more than three centuries, having first been made around 1672.
South African brandies are, by law, made almost exactly as cognac is, using a double distillation process in copper pot stills, followed by ageing in oak casks for a minimum of three years.
At the top table, each of the estates’ distillers take us through their brandies — entertaining and knowledgeable people with a passion for their products.
It is not the place that one wants to commit a faux pas, I thought, leaning back and giving the KWV XO Potstill (Export Only) a smug swirl — like I saw connoisseurs do at the previous week’s WineX — before poking my nose into the balloon glass.
Perhaps timeously — two-three tastings in — it was then that the erudite expert, Shane Mumba, brand ambassador of the South African Brandy Association, gave us a little idiot’s guide to the golden drink.
South African brandy comes in three styles: blended, vintage and potstill. Blended is what ouens like with their Coke — or is it the other way round?
Our local brandies are internationally celebrated, often walking off with major awards.
Brandy expert Shane Mumba
For “an enhanced brandy tasting experience”, Mumba recommended, “avoid swirling the glass and do not warm the brandy — room temperature is best.
“Begin nosing from 5cm above the glass, moving down slowly to savour the aroma.”
I swiftly put down my glass and manage to knock over a glass of bubbly, which fortunately spilled on the tablecloth and not into my serious neighbour’s brandy.
The ever-professional Mumba didn’t skip a beat and continued: “Sip, swirl in your mouth and let the flavours emerge as the alcohol’s intensity subsides.”
Next, Strauss & Co wine specialist Roland Peens noted that there is huge value in South African brandy, and that cognac of the same quality would be many times the price. No lies detected there.
After the formal tasting, I spoke to Daniel Nel, 32, who is a sixth-generation distiller at Boplaas in the Klein Karoo. His family started producing brandy there in 1880.
I asked how he would feel if someone bought their Potstill Reserve Single Harvest, which is on the Strauss auction, and poured Coke into it.
“I think it might be the best brandy and Coke they’ve ever had,” he chuckled and added diplomatically: “People should drink the products they want and they should drink it with what they want.
“I’ve seen people drinking Château Pétrus with Coke as well. So, I mean, it’s up to the consumer. I’m not tasting my brandy with Coke but I’m not going to crucify the guy that does it.