SOUTH AFRICAN VINEYARD LAUNCHES ITS WINES IN UK AT BONHAMS SOUTH AFRICAN ART SALE IN LONDON
South African wine estate Solms-Delta will introduce a range of its award-winning wines at Bonhams South African Art Sale preview reception on March 21st. The sale takes place on March 23rd. Solms-Delta is internationally regarded for both its innovative wines and its sustainable social reforms.
Giles Peppiatt, Director of South African Art at Bonhams, comments: "We are delighted to be part of the Solms-Delta UK launch. It is entirely appropriate that with this number of South African masterpieces in the sale we are able to toast this event with the best of the Cape vineyards." Hannah O’Leary Head of South African Art at Bonhams, adds:” We are delighted to be working with the Solms-Delta estate in the run up to our South African sale on 23 March. I was lucky enough to visit the estate recently. In addition to producing wonderful wines in the beautiful surroundings of the Franschhoek Valley, the enthusiasm of Mark and Richard for the art of producing wine, the history of the estate, and their community is absolutely contagious.”
The Solms-Delta estate is directed by renowned South African scientist Mark Solms and British philanthropist Richard Astor, the son of the late anti-apartheid campaigner and Observer editor David Astor. Solms and Astor were last year’s recipients of the prestigious South African Inyathelo Philanthropy Award, in recognition of their far-reaching social programmes which have changed the lives of Cape farm workers.
Solms-Delta is also shaking things up in South Africa’s 350-year-old wine industry. Having planted unusual varietals ideally suited to the hot, dry, windy climate of the Franschhoek Valley, winemaker Hilko Hegewisch revived the largely forgotten ancient Mediterranean practice of desiccation on the vine -- in which the stems of grape bunches are clamped several weeks before harvest for concentrated flavour and colour.
Commenting on the launch event at Bonhams, Mark Solms said: “We feel that the Bonhams March Sale, which offers outstanding South African masterpieces, was the perfect platform to introduce our wines to a relevant UK audience. Bonhams have been central to broadening international appreciation of South African art; and wine-making at its best is just another art form.”
The arts are key to Solms-Delta’s celebrated nation-building programmes. The farm is home to the dynamic Music van de Caab project, which preserves and promotes the unique musical heritage of the rural Cape by fostering the talents of hundreds of amateur local musicians. Its Museum van de Caab likewise honours the memory of the many slaves and other forgotten people who lived and worked on the 320-year-old farm from pre-colonial times to the present. And acclaimed South African artist Joachim Schönfeldt led the whole Solms-Delta farm community in creating an impressive relief sculpture on the cellar façade. This massive map of the Cape, complete with iconic images and golden highways, is an evocative rendering of the farm’s special place in local history.
The South African roots of neuropsychoanalyst Professor Mark Solms brought him home in 2001 to revitalise the derelict Delta wine estate -- and to fundamentally rethink Cape wine-making traditions in the process. Solms assumed custodianship with a vision that went much deeper than re-establishing vineyards and cellars. He also wanted to do something about the legacy of his European forebears (who had settled in the Cape six generations before) and thereby address the pressing social and economic problems facing South Africa today.
After some initial awkwardness between himself and the farm’s tenant workers, they began together to chart a radical new direction for the estate. Solms was then joined by friend Richard Astor, whose deep-rooted South African sympathies made him an ideal partner. Astor bought the neighbouring farm, and the two friends put up their farms as collateral, in order to buy a third farm in the name of the workers’ trust. This unprecedented gesture ensured that the estate’s historically disadvantaged residents and employees have an equal stake in its future. From the ensuing profits, the farm residents now enjoy decent homes and normal family life, with unprecedented educational and other opportunities that have changed the face of South African wine farming forever.
For more on Solms-Delta see: www.solms-delta.co.za
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest
auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further four throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com
