The Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild - a slightly motley grouping comprising many of the Cape's best wine producers - hosts an annual auction each year in October. At this sale the Guild's special cuvees (officially the very best barrel selections) are sold at prices which leave even shell-shocked commentators gasping for breath. For the past few years the event - and its prices - has upstaged the longer-established Nederburg auction as the Louis Vuitton of wine hype.

Of course, it's hard to find fault with producers who pile onto a band-wagon travelling with growing momentum and which leaves to the competitive environment of an auction the pricing decision for these special offerings. No doubt the Latin adage caveat emptor has a comparable message for those who use their egos to measure the depth of their pockets.

There has however long been a debate among critics and the less well-heeled wine buffs about the true quality of these auction selections. I (for one) have frequently lamented the overripe fruit and excessive use of oak, especially given the youth of what is on offer. The response has been that since these are barrel selections, and since the Guild sale's USP is the cutting edge nature of what is in the catalogue (this ruling out anything with real maturity), oak and precocity are inevitable features.

Christian Eedes, tasting manager for WINE Magazine, managed to persuade the Guild that at least one of pre-auction press showings for this year's sale should be presented as a blind tasting. I was happy to have my views about how many of the Guild auction wines are over-worked put to this test. Given that the Guild's members make the auction selection at a blind tasting (and regularly exclude wines from Boekenhoutkloof's Marc Kent and keep from their cosy club the extraordinary talent of Chamonix's Gottfried Mocke) this also seemed particularly poetic justice.

That said, the one thing a blind tasting cannot reveal is pedigree - and this includes a wine's ability to evolve. However, as long as the assessment is about fruit quality, structure and balance, all that is missing is a view on what the long-term end result is likely to be.

So what - on this year's sale - would be worth mortaging the holiday house for? Among the bubbly's only the Villiera Shooting Star: it has lovely bready notes and refined, unshowy elegance. In the white wine line-up the Keets Auction Reserve Viognier is world-class - peachy, perfumed and without the alcohol burn that mars most local offerings. There was a strong Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon class of which the Tullie Family Vineyards  (The Yair), the Cederberg (Elim), the Nitida Aureus, and the Flagstone Happy Hour (which includes some Viognier) were all pretty smart. I also liked the Jordan Auction Reserve Chardonnay, the unusual Cape Point blend, and I believe the Rijk's Chenin will emerge victorious from its prolonged exposure to oak. In short, I think the Guild's tasters are as good at judging white wines as they are at making them.

The same sadly can't be said for the more prolific red wine selection. The Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noir (which tastes remarkably similar to the Tete de Cuvée I sampled recently) impressed me, as did the Kanonkop Pinotage and the Paul Sauer, the Edgebaston Cabernet, the Cederberg Shiraz and the Boplaas Port. Others were good enough, but not exceptional, some were frankly ghastly.

It's true that I don't like overripe reds, with showy, clumsy, raisiny fruit, intrusive alcohols, all lacking finesse and detail. It's also worth acknowledging that there is clearly a market for this style - to judge from what has sold in the past and what, even today, finds a following in California and Australia.

It may be that the buyers (who clearly have deep pockets) drink the labels in a textbook case of post-purchase justification. I would however add that they should do so quickly: many of the reds I sampled will have the shelf-life of organic lettuce.

From Business Day, 8 September 2010

TASTING NOTES ON THE WINES

With scores out of 100

Keets Viognier 2009. Straw yellow, very peachy, plush fruit hiding a little sweetness/sucrosity, very good length and balance, no alcohol burn. 90

Cederberg Private Cellar Semillon 2010, 2010 Brilliant green edge, fresh limey notes, slight herbaceous, green fig whiffs, subtle but beautifully assembled. 90

Nitida Aureus 2009 (SB 56:Sem 44) Luminous green edge, fine, slightly oxidative whiff, sweet-fruited, not concentrated yet not dilute - elegant, persistent - plusher than wine 10. 90

Edgebaston Cabernet Sauvignon Auction Reserve 2008. Fine lead pencil cassis notes, slight sweatiness, tight, well-integrated, savoury, unshowy, still a little puckering, fine and just the right amount of austerity, balanced by elusive sweetness 90

Tullie Family Vineyards The Yair 2009 (SB 52:Sem 48). Asparagus, thatchy aromas, dense flavours running through to persistent, slightly herbaceous finish 88

Cape Point Vineyards Auction Reserve White 2008 (CB 62:Ch 38) Green gold - with well-managed chenin-type rancio, alcohol in check except on the finish, very good length 88

Flagstone "Happy Hour" Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon 2009 (57) Sem (29) Vio (14) 2009. Pale green edge, some asparagus/thatchy mid-palate texture (evident but not aggressive), fresh, slightly zesty, quite Bordeaux-like. 87

Bouchard Finlayson Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2007. Deep red, very good BF-style meaty savoury spice, smoky and brooding, yet mid-palate fruit lacks detail and becomes increasingly intrusive. Slight heat on finish. Good not profound 87

Kanonkop CWG Pinotage 2008 Herbal, quite fine, not overly showy - suffers from the preceding class! Delicate red fruit, good unobtrusive cooperage, spicy long finish 87

Kanonkop CWG Paul Sauer 2007 (CS:68 CF:17 M:15) Dense fruited, slightly funky savouriness, oak obvious but fruit lurking, a bit flat but some freshness, length on the finish. Should become good in 3 - 5 years. 85

Boplaas Auction Reserve Port 2008 Rasiny, some quite dry berry fruit notes, still evolving but lacking in plushness, spice, detail, alc (from fortification) still interesting, though presently lacking complexity 84

Rijks Private Cellar Auction Reserve Chenin 2009. Fine green gold, apricot-pineapple notes, wood overt and intruding on texture, some funkiness, good length 84

De Grendel Op de Berg Pinot Noir 2009 Stress notes, some spice, not yet attractive and with acid (alc?) heat on the back-palate. Clumsy yet with potential 84

Jordan Auction Reserve Chardonnay 2009 Green gold, with oxidation well handled, sweet tropical fruit, attractive, slightly simple, oak evident but not overly intrusive viz a viz fruit: slight alc/acid heat, showy 83

Cederberg Teen die Hoog Shiraz 2008. Very dense, oak, some sweet, slightly herbal notes, some real spice lurking in this, but presently overwhelmed  83

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Herbal and green, some stress, dense tannins, possible Cab Franc spice, improves in the glass, austere, unshowy, clumsy and lacking detail on finish 83

AA Badenhorst Kalmoesfontein NLH Vol 2 2008 Overdone, funky, hollow in the middle, not enough fruit, spice, detail 83

Hidden Valley Top Secret 2008 (SH) Massive oak and sweet red fruit, New World, quite pretty, lacks detail and concentration, showy but simple 82

Villiera Shooting Star 2007. Quite good bready notes, fine mousse, slightly watery finish, light elegant but simple and a bit hollow on the finish 82

Kaapzicht Cape Blend Auction Reserve 2007 (CS:40 Pin:40 M:20) Deep cerise, concentrated colour, showy ripe fruit notes,  more raspberry than pepper, more oak than fruit, yet alc in check, lacks flavour concentration, detail 80

Paul Cluver Wagon Trail Chardonnay 2009 Pale green straw - overtly mocha-coffee from mid-heavy char concealing evidence of variety, vague lime note, slightly creamy, lacking precision 80

Rijks Private Cellar Auction Reserve Semillon (72) SB (28) 2009 Mid-straw and massively oaked, evidence of batonnage rather than fruit, sweet slightly green notes, harmonising 80

Spier Merlot 2008 Rich cerise, with sweet oaky notes dominating very slight olivaceous hints, clumsy and lacking detail, showy and oak dependent 79

The Steenberg The Magus 2009 (SB:Sem). Pale straw, delicate herbal notes, fine but lacking concentration, simple, dilute finish, textured persistence redeeming a well made but slightly ordinary wine 79

Neil Ellis Auction Reserve 2007 (CS:50 M:20 CF:20 Sh:10) Sweet-fruited, big, showy, no spice, no detail, dilute and with mainly oak tannins dominating the finish. 78

Teddy Hall Mediterranean White 2008 (CB). Markedly oxidised, quite yellow, showing aldehydic, maderised notes, funky mid-palate flavours, overdone, lacking detail but with enough acidity to survive. Clumsy but interesting 78

Teddy Hall Tribute MCC 2003. Developed golden colour, more oxidative than aldehydic, sweetness showing through, fine mousse - aged but not unattractive 78

Kaapzicht Cab S/Merlot Auction Reserve 2007 (CS:80 M:20) Very fine spice, fruit evident despite multiple oak layerings, sweet, savoury, but unnecessarily woody, and with some alc/acid bite. Just too big, too raisiny 77

Simonsig Cuvee Chene 2004. Green gold, overtly aldehydic, showing some bitterness and evolution without finesse in the mousse, clumsy  77

Ernie Els CWG 2008 (Sh) Massive, big, highly polished, but alcoholic and lacking in detail, short and clumsy on the finish, hot and indigestible 76

Louis Cabernet 2008 Savoury animal notes, more oak and development rather than fruit, very chunky on the mid-palate and finish, oak dominated, coarse 76

AA Badenhorst Auction Red 2005 (CS 40: PV 20: CF 20: Mal 20) Slightly dull fruit, sour notes and sweaty, certainly a little dilute, though some cassis evident. Alc/acid evident on the finish, puckering, unready 75

De Grendel Amandelboort Sauvignon Blanc 2010. Herbaceous sweaty notes marring an otherwise simple, unremarkable mid-palate, refreshing green-edged zesty finish 74

Saronsberg Die Erf Shiraz 2007 Some detail from mint/eucalyptus, still flat, lacking in finesse, alc evident, no savouriness, detail, hot and clumsy 73

Villiera Mother Earth (Bdx R CF 85:M 10 CS 5)) 2008 Over-oaked, wood-dominated and clumsy. Saw-dusty, sappy, with fruit rather too-well hidden 71

Simonsig Auction Reserve Shiraz 2008 Nose shy and oak dominated, thick, gooey, oaky, some alc/acid burn actually adding freshness. Clumsy 70

Boschkloof Auction Reserve Shiraz 2007 Ripe flat dishwater notes, integrated, intense, some dead fruit, alc burn, sweaty 69

Boschkloof CWG Conclusion 2006 (CS:62 M:18 CF:12 PV:8). Oxidative oak, delivering flat rancio, dead fruit, overly alcoholic. Not pretty 67