Wine prices climbed to a record at one of SA’s biggest sales, with hotel group Tsogo Sun Holdings being the largest buyer for a third straight year.

Sales at the 32nd Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild auction increased 17% to R13.83m from a year earlier, the guild said in a statement on its website.

The single-day event on October 1, which took place at the Stellenbosch Winelands saw record prices for red, white, Methode Cap Classique and port, it said. Fifty-two wines and a potstill brandy were showcased.

Local purchasers bought 84% of the wines, with Tsogo, SA’s biggest hotel and gaming company, buying more than R2.6m of wine, it said.

SA is among the world’s biggest producers of wine by volume. The country grows white-wine grapes, including chenin blanc, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, and its red varieties include pinotage, which was created in the nation. The country’s almost 100,000 hectares of vineyards are mostly concentrated in the Western Cape and the industry employs 300,000 people.

This year’s auction was attended by 125 local and 27 foreign buyers representing countries such as the UK, the US and France. In total, 2,428 cases containing six, 750-millilitre bottles each were sold at an average price of R5,697 each. The average price per bottle was R950.

Bloomberg