Big, bigger, better? Few top Cape cellars take large bottles to next level
WINE BOTTLE SIZES:
HALF = 375ml
STANDARD = 750ml
MAGNUM = 1,5L
JEROBOAM = 3L
REHOBOAM = 4,5L / 5L
METHUSELAH/IMPERIAL = 6L
SALMANAZAR = 9L
BALTHAZAR = 12L
NEBUCHADNEZZAR = 15L
MELCHIOR = 18L
GOLIATH/PRIMAT = 27L
THERE’S SOMETHING special about having a large bottle of wine on the table – something grand, pleasing on the eye. Plus, there are collectors who reason that wines aged in big bottles mature slower and arguably better than in the standard size – on the basis that the wine is less affected by that little bit of air left in the bottle when sealed with a cork or whathaveyou. Many wineries sell some of their reds and sometimes even some of their whites in bottles twice the size of the standard 750ml, but very few take things to the next level – a step or three up from the magnum.
Kanonkop Wine Estate offer most of their range in magnums (1.5L), with their Cab, Pinotage and Paul Sauer also available in larger formats – from double-magnum or jeroboam (3L) bottles at R190 for the Kadette Cape Blend to melchior (18L) bottles at up to R15 700 for the Paul Sauer when last surveyed. Rust en Vrede, also of Stellenbosch, is the other SA wine industry specialist in this regard – sometimes offering their flagship Estate blend in Goliaths, which recently sold for some R26 000pb.
At the time of writing, the following were the only large bottle formats available from the Top 100 cellars in South Africa, i.e. larger than magnum:
• Creation Syrah Grenache: 3L, 5L
• De Toren Fusion V (red blend): 3L, 9L
• De Trafford Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Elevation (red blend), Syrah 393: 3L
• Kanonkop Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Paul Sauer (red blend): 3L, 5L, 9L, 12L, 15L, 18L
• KWV Roodeberg: 3L, 5L
• Meerlust Merlot: 3L, 5L
• Neethlingshof Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Caracal (red blend), Owl Post Pinotage: 3L, 5L, 9L
• Rust en Vrede Estate (red blend): 3L, 5L, 9L, 12L, 15L, 18L
• Sadie Columella (red blend), Palladius (white blend): 3L
• Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel (MCC sparkling), Tiara (red blend), Redhill Pinotage: 3L, 5L
• Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Shiraz: 3L, 5L
• The Chocolate Block (red blend) of Boekenhoutskloof: 3L
• Tokara Director’s Reserve Red (blend): 3L, 5L
I have a 5L rehoboam bottle of Simonsig Tiara 1997 in good condition. Does anyone have any info regarding its value? I have only found a price for the standard 750ml: R565.
What a 23-year-old Tiara should be worth is a bit of a tricky one – especially a big 5L bottle. It is important to know the wine’s storage conditions and to know it was stored under good constant temperature and humidity. I would say R5000 to R6000. It could go higher if its on an auction or for charity… I would also recommend to enjoy it reasonably soon. The price for a Tiara of the current release [2012] is R3300 VAT inclusive.
Could anyone perhaps estimate the value of a 2005 5L bottle of KWV Roodeberg?
The current price for a 9L Beyerskloof Pinotage is R2200, on the farm. So I would value the 2005 Pinotage 9L – in wooden box and signed – at R4000 to R5000. Every year, we bottle a few 3L, 5L, 9L, 12L, 15L and 18L on request from clients and for wine auctions…
I have a 9L Beyerskloof Pinotage 2005, boxed and in mint condition, signed by Beyers Truter. Apparently Beyers bottled one of these for a charity auction. What is the value, I wonder? The size of the bottle isn’t part of the usual Beyerskloof Pinotage range – they normally only bottle 1.5L and 3L (besides 750ml).
Hamilton Russell makes 5L and 3L bottles available every so often for promotions or charity auctions – especially in what we classify as great vintages.