Over the years some of the most famous personalities in the wine world have graced Nederburg’s podium in this capacity and taken back with them memories not only of the Cape’s finest wines, but of what is said to be the most efficiently organised wine auction anywhere.

2010

Sara Norell

Marie Nygren

Two top female directors of the Swedish retail liquor monopoly Systembolaget AB shared the guest speaker platform at the 36th Nederburg Auction of rare Cape wines on Saturday, 4 September.
Marie Nygren, Vice President and Director of Purchases and Supply Chain Management and Sara Norell, Head of Purchasing in the Supply Chain Management division, jointly represented the Swedish alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget AB at last year’s event. The monopoly started in the mid-1800s and is the only retail channel through which alcohol is sold in Sweden.  Established to minimise alcohol-related problems by controlling the sale of liquor it currently has 412 stores, approximately 4 700 employees and an annual turnover of 23 billion Swedish Krona (SEK), an equivalent of just under R22.4 billion.
Prior to joining the Systembolaget in 2007, Marie was CEO of Adara AB, a fully owned subsidiary to Apoteket, the former Swedish Pharmacy Monopoly. Sara has a background in import and supply and was previously Director for Arvid Nordquist Wine and Spirit Merchants, a company she was with for 11 years.

2009

Tsediso Matona

The keynote speaker at the 35th Auction of Rare Cape Wines was Mr Tshediso Matona, Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry.
A member of the dti for ten years, Mr Matona was appointed to the position of Director-General in July 2006 and has been instrumental in implementing its vision of a South Africa that has a vibrant economy characterised by growth and equity, built on the full potential of all citizens.
He has published a number of papers, and contributed to prestigious publications in his field. Mr Matona is also a member of a number of boards and professional organisations, including the Trade Law Center (Tralac) Advisory Board; World Health Organisation Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health; Harvard University Trade Group, JK Kennedy School of Government, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) Advisory Board; National Export Advisory Board, South Africa; and, he was a trustee of the South African Students Education Trust during 1990 to 1993.
Mr Matona is currently the director of the Trade and Industrial Policy Secretariat (TIPS), an independent, non-profit economic research institution that aims to be a source of independent economic policy and research leadership to government and civil society in South Africa and the region.

2008

Dr Monika Christmann

The keynote speaker at the 34th Auction of Rare Cape Wines brought an international perspective on oenology and wine technology to one of Cape Town’s premier wine events. Dr Monika Christmann, professor and head of the department of oenology and wine technology at Geisenheim Research Centre in Germany, offered her insights on how consumer demands will shape the future of wine, particularly in the current economic climate.
Dr Christmann, who worked for the esteemed Simi Winery in Healdsburg, California, where she was a member of the winemaking team and laboratory director in the early 1990s, is currently president of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine’s (OIV’s) expert wine technology group.  The OIV is the internationally recognised inter-governmental body that addresses technical, scientific, economic and legal issues pertaining to wine all over the world.  It also sets conditions for producing and marketing vine and wine products, and helps ensure that the interests of consumers are taken into account.
In addition, she serves on the German Federal Agricultural Ministry’s wine research committee and is a director of a national industry forum that focuses on wine and health, for which she is currently researching the impact of wine on diet.
As a consumer in Germany, she is also happy to see South African wines becoming more readily available and believes the awareness of the Cape as a travel destination is helping the country to build its wine profile.
Dr Christmann is currently engaged in a range of key studies and think tanks on issues facing the international wine industry, from the impact of climate change to environmental and social sustainability, traceability, growing international competition in the international wine market, changing technology and the need to cater to the growing health awareness of consumers.

2007

Tom Perry

Mutle Mugase

Tom Perry, managing director of the Rioja Wine Exporters’ Association, was the keynote speaker at the Nederburg Auction on Saturday, September 29. US-born Perry, who has lived in Spain for over 30 years, has played a leading role in building the international profile of the Rioja region and its wines. Rioja, in north-central Spain, is arguably the country’s best-known wine region attracting visitors from all over the world. It is also one of the most prestigious, with Rioja wines priced at a premium.
In yet another break with tradition, this year’s Nederburg Auction, taking place in spring for the first time in the 33-year history of the event, will be featuring two keynote speakers. As well as Tom Perry, the managing director of the Rioja Wine Exporters’ Association, guests were also addressed by Mutle Mogase, executive chairman of Vantage Capital, the black-owned private equity fund with interests in mining, financial services and technology.

2006

Divas

Four high-powered African-American businesswomen, the executive members of Divas Uncorked, were the guest speakers, opening the 32nd Nederburg Wine Auction.  They are Stephanie Browne, Carolyn Golden Hebsgaard, Karen Holmes Ward and Paula Wright.  Divas Uncorked is a Boston-based wine education and consumer advocacy group that seeks to make wine more accessible to women, African-Americans and other minority groups in the United States by “breaking down the intimidating image of the wine world.”
The Divas Uncorked Collaborative Consortium helps wineries, distributors and retailers access new consumer markets.
Their presentation included the power of marketing wine to non-wine drinkers, as well as aiming marketing at women.  Currently  60% of the wine purchased in the USA is done so by women, as they tend to make the purchasing decisions in the household.

2005

Nicolas Joly

Nicolas Joly of Clos de la Coulée de Serrant in Savennières in the Loire Valley – who harvested the 874th crop from one vineyard planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks. – is an exponent of the global biodynamic wine revolution, author of “Wine from Sky to Earth: Growing and Appreciating Biodynamic Wines” and owner of one of only three single estate appellations in France today.
The only way to express the originality of a vineyard site…
Biodynamics expert Nicolas Joly said that the unique vine sites of South Africa are inimitable anywhere else in the world and concluded that “the wine farmer should be an artist of the earth.”