South African and International Art, including a selection of works from prominent estates, Books, Jewellery, Oriental Works of Art and Wine
Online-Only Auction, 18 - 25 November 2019
Wine
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About this Item
Chris and Suzanne Alheit set the wine world on fire with their maiden 2011 Cartology receiving 96 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Aiming to harness the best old vineyards across the Cape, the Cartology offered a textured old-vine Chenin Blanc Semillon blend with startling purity and depth. Passionate and focused on the expression of place, tiny, long-forgotten parcels were added to the range, and are today South Africa’s most profound white wines. We auction maiden vintages of Magnetic Makstok on the legendary ‘Skurfkop’ in the Citrusdal area, Huilkrans in the Paardeberg, La Colline in Franschhoek, and, extremely rare Radio Lazarus in Stellenbosch.
Setting the wine world on fire with their maiden 2011 Alheit Vineyards Cartology release, husband and wife team Chris and Suzaan Alheit set out to harness the best old vineyards across the Cape. With a passionate and detailed focus on expression of place, sourcing tiny, long-forgotten parcels of predominantly white grapes, today they produce South Africa’s most profound white wines. Richard Kelley MW, their UK distributor, has said before that he doesn’t sell their wine, he simply allocates it.
The 2018 vintage, auctioned off in June, was the last vintage ever produced and this, their debut vintage and first single vineyard release, is incredibly difficult to find in the market today.
Critics Ratings
The debut 2012 Radio Lazarus is pure Chenin Blanc and is a wine that readers should “tune in” for. It is their first single vineyard release, …though by all accounts this parcel took months to locate. It comes from vines perched on top of the Bottelary Hills at around 400 meters: dry farmed Chenin Blanc planted in 1978 that had been sold off in bulk. Chris actually made a small quantity of 2011, though not enough to be commercialized and yet he found the potential evident. (Incidentally, the name comes from the fact that the vineyard is overlooked by a radio mast and “Lazarus” who was raised from the dead, since the vines were due to be grubbed up the year that Chris discovered them.) It has a superbly defined bouquet with wax resin, vanilla creams, pineapple, sunflower seed and orange blossom that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is well-balanced with a fine line of acidity. It is an unpretentious Chenin Blanc that is deceptively understated on the entry, but it builds in the mouth to a lovely mango, pineapple and white pepper-tinged finish. The Radio Lazarus …constitutes a superb offering from Chris and Suzaan Alheit.’ – Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (October 2013), 93/100
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