A huge cellar, perhaps the largest on the continent, is on sale in South Africa. The owners of the former Mosaic restaurant in Pretoria are parting with some of their 80,000 bottles. The sale of the bottles has been going on for a year and a half.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Roman Song
To go around the world, it is sometimes enough to enter a cellar. That of the Mosaic restaurant and its 80,000 bottles offer a fine example of the best in the world, explains Charlotte Dagueneau. She works for the importer Great Domaines which takes care of selling the cellar.
” The selection is truly amazing. All French regions are represented. There are also a lot of Portuguese, Italian, Quintarelli, German, Egon Müller wines… They also have an impressive collection of South African wines: Sadie family, Duncan Savage, Constance wine are beautiful references from South Africa “, she explains.
Unfortunately the cellar can no longer be visited and the sale is being made little by little. It is fragmented so as not to flood the market and cause these prestigious bottles to lose value. It’s a whole heritage that is in the process of being dispersed. Another part is repatriated to Brittany, where the owners have bought a castle to open a new restaurant there.
” Me, I didn’t visit it personally, but I saw pictures and it was quite impressive. It was really exceptional to have this cellar and I think that they will constitute the same thing in France and it will certainly be one of the very beautiful cellars of France. We’ll take care of selling the rest and I think there’s still some for a year adds Ms. Dagueneau.
Prices can range from 36 euros for a champagne to 940 euros for a Château Lafite Rothschild Premier Grand Cru Classé from 1999. New cellars are in the process of being set up.
► To read also: South Africa, the other country of wine
In the wine sector, South Africa is the 8th world producer and its exports increased by 22% last year with the United Kingdom as the first market. But South African wine has long had a bad reputation and a price not commensurate with its quality, according to Nicola Tipping, sales representative at a wine producer.
People expected South African wine to be very affordable. But when you’re producing world-class wines, you can’t stay that cheap. I’ve been back in South Africa for 12 years and the quality has become excellent, it’s phenomenal.
Nicola Tipping, commercial at the producer Mullineux&Leeu