Fancy a virtual tipple?

Strauss and Co and Wine Cellar are hosting Africa’s first NFT fine wine auction on the 11 – 25th of April. Encompassing past, present and future vintages, the non-fungible tokens for collections of acclaimed, rare and award-winning vintages. The auction includes collections of Klein Constantia Vin de Constance, Kanonkop Paul Sauer, Meerlust Rubicon, Mullineux Olerasay and Vilafonté Series C. The digital contracts hold between 20 and 50 vintages, with collections from 66 to 288 bottles.

“We are beyond excited to be launching Africa’s first NFT auction online, which we believe can play an important part in generating awareness for South African fine wine internationally,” said Roland Peens WineCellar.co.za Director and Strauss & Co Fine Wine Specialist.

“Various fine wine NFTs have become available over the past two years as the NFT market has boomed. Strauss & Co Fine Wine NFTs offer a unique, iconic South African industry collective of verticals direct from the producers, providing unprecedented ownership of vintage wines and futures to the collector and investor.”

The NFT auction is a first for SA wine as the digital contract, stored on the polygon blockchain, includes all the provenance, pricing, transaction, sensorial and ageing information.

The digital innovation makes it efficient to trade and invest in fine wines. Bottles are individually authenticated with their bottle seal-code. Strauss & Co will co-ordinate each NFT and real-world bottle counterpart to maturity, ensuring each future vintage is added to digital wallets as well as “burning" NFTs when stock is withdrawn. Strauss & Co has partnered with Web3 company Fanfire for the curation and transactions of the auction. Once auctioned, the NFTs can be traded on any platform, allowing international trade and a global market.

The wines within the NFT are extremely rare and the full range of the vintages probably don’t exist outside of estates. Strauss & Co have been leaders of the secondary market of SA wine. It auctioned a bottle of 1821 Grand Constance for R967,300 in 2021, and 19 jeroboams across three decades of Kanonkop Paul Sauer sold for R546,240 in 2020. The wine and NFT industries are surprisingly similar — prices of recent vintages such as the Vilafonté Series C 2009 have increased by an annualised 25% over the past decade, while Meerlust Rubicon 2009 has grown 17% as year on average. Since its release last year, the Neal Martin 100-point Mullineux Olerasay No 2 has sold at a premium of 227%/

A percentage of the NFT proceeds will be paid to Sp(i)eel, a non-profit organisation that uses the arts in wineland communities to address inequality and suport local communities.

How to bid

Strauss & Co holds regular virtual live and online auctions on their platform. The five-lot NFT sale will take place on April 11-25 at Straussart.co.za. Bidders can pay in rand, bitcoin and ethereum. There is a standard identification process for fiat and cryptocurrency purchases.

The auction

Viewing of lots opens 11-25 April. Visit straussart.co.za/