All it needs is the right player,
writes Ray Smuts
DON TOOTH may be forgiven for coyness when talk gets around to price for that most famous of properties now on the market as Boschendal - one of the Cape"s oldest and best-known wine estates - will certainly prove beyond the reach of many would-be investors.
We"re talking "several hundred million rand", but the diplomatic Mr Tooth, managing director of Anglo American Farms, owners of the prestige property dating back to 1635, is not saying exactly how much.
"I would not like the guys to come forward and try to second guess by offering two (hundred million rand) while somebody else may be (intent on)) coming in and offering nine. If I said to you four is what we are looking for the guy with the nine is no longer going to offer me that."
Such rhetoric makes a lot of sense to a simple financially-minded person like this writer.
It"s early days yet - a prospectus was not even available as of last week - and Tooth emphasises Anglo American will not be rushed into disposing of the property.
"This is not a fire sale. The crucial point for Anglo is finding the right buyer, achieving the right price and we are going about it as professionally and as systematically as we can with a view to selling Boschendal as a going concern in which our dedicated staff of 120 is retained."
Of Boschendal"s 3 500ha about 1 300ha, made up of 19 mainly fruit farms, is also on the market for a total of R71,3 million, and around half have already been sold to local buyers.
Situated near Pniel in the Groot Drakenstein Valley, Boschendal, once owned by colonialist Cecil John Rhodes, has long been primarily a white wine producer, that is, until wine drinkers here and abroad started developing a greater affinity for reds.
What was once a 90% white and 10% red product mix has since changed. Of the 300ha under vines about 65% is now white and 35% red. Anglo created a R22 million cellar exclusively for red wine production a few years ago.
Boschendal produces about 260 000 cases of wine a year of which some 30% is exported.
It exports primarily to the United Kingdom which accounts for around 45% of the aforementioned 30% volumes, but Tooth is under no illusion that these could be greatly enhanced with the right player at the helm - be it international or local.
Japan, too, has become an important wine market for many of the world"s producers and it is fair to say that the Far East in general holds great possibilities for South African exports, China being a potential gem when trade with the West opens in its entirety. (Like their Japanese counterparts, the affluent Chinese are said also to relish fine red wines in particular).
"From an export perspective," says Tooth, "one could grow Boschendal four-fold. South Africa, in reality, needs a premium brand and we believe this estate is probably best-positioned to achieve that with the potential to produce up to one million cases a year for export alone - about three times more than total current production.
"A new international player could certainly take this to greater heights considering that all the building blocks are in place and that the quality coming through in some of our wines certainly shows that we are getting toward meeting our aspiration of being counted among the top 100 wines of the world."
