King loses his Quoin for R60.5 million

The Quoin Rock Wine Estate, valued by the liquidators at R120 million, was sold for R60,5 million to well known businesswoman, Wendy Appelbaum who also owns the De Morgenzon Wine Estate in Stellenbosch.

In what was regarded as one of the highest value liquidation to have ever been held in the Western Cape, the prestigious Quoin Rock Winery and Manor Estate, belonging to businessman Dave King, secured R60.5 million during a packed auction on Saturday.

The Estate was sold by Auction Alliance to Wendy Appelbaum, well known businesswoman and philanthropist, who owns another spectacular Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. 

Dave King represented the company Ben Nevis in South Africa, which has tax arrears of R2.7 billion Rand. The value of the stock and moveable assets of the farm are valued at an estimated R30 million while the property itself is estimated to be worth R120 million.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Simonsberg Mountains, Quoin Rock Wine & Manor Estate is spread across 194 hectares of the finest vineyards in the world renowned Stellenbosch winelands.

Quoin Rock boasts breathtaking views over vast vineyards onto Table Mountain, and features a world class winery that has produced the famous Quoin Rock, Glenhurst and Gary Player Red wine ranges.

The estate features a spectacular homestead, helipad, an underground cave which housed functions for leading Stellenbosch businesspeople and luminaries, and a state of the art imported Italian wine cellar. 

There was spirited bidding for the moveable assets which were sold separately. They included 18th century antiques, artworks by Irma Stern, Otto Klar and David Botha , 2 extremely discerning collections of wine from South Africa and abroad,  and a number of valuable carpets including one allegedly belonging to King George V as per insignia stitched inside.  

According to Auction Alliance CEO Rael Levitt, “This was undoubtedly the highlight of the auction calendar for 2011. The auction atmosphere was electric and attracted bidders from far and wide, properties of this class might appear on the market once every 10 years, given the background story to this particular property, this opportunity was more like once every 50 years. This was a fair price considering the economic climate and offered excellent value for the buyer. ”