50-year-old Chateau Libertas trio sells for R20 000

Tuesday, 20 September, 2011
Chateau Libertas
On the eve of its 80th birthday next year, Chateau Libertas, the grandfather of South African red blends, is in great shape with a reputation to match.
At the 2011 Nederburg Auction, a trio of 50-year-old bottles went for an impressive R20 000, the equivalent of R6 666 a 750ml bottle. The 1961 vintage wine was bought by a foreign company trading between Asia and Africa.

There were two other lots of vintage Chateau Libertas that also fetched handsome prices. A six-bottle case of 1965 was sold to a local chain for R14 000 (or R2 333 a bottle), while a 1967 case of six bottles went under the hammer for R8 800 (R1 466 a bottle), sold to a Chinese buyer.

Chateau Libertas was developed by Dr William Charles Winshaw in 1932 as an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend and has been made without interruption ever since.