Nod, wink or wave your way to a slice of Bot River heaven at the annual 2018 Barrels & Beards Best of Bot Auction of the Overberg wine hamlet on April 21. Whatever your preferred style of bidding for the awesome lots on offer, every time you win you automatically make a contribution to a local charity.

This year’s Bot River Barrels & Beards promises to top its predecessors with major Cape personalities scheduled to attend and increased sponsorship from premier wine closure company Amorim Cork.

“The South African wine scene is characterised by an energetic spirit of originality - from its wine styles and the personalities making them, to the unique tourist offerings and the country's pioneering sense of adventure. And when it comes to originality, Bot River's annual Barrels & Beards is to my mind one of the wine world's most audaciously innovative events,” says Amorim Cork MD Joaquim Sá. “Great wine from a special region, the spirit of adventurous winemakers and an event filled with more excitement and laughs than should be permitted in one evening make it a fun-filled showcase Amorim is honoured to be a partner of.”
   

Barrels & Beards is an annual event that promotes the small region’s outstanding wine and maverick character, putting the stubble that accumulates on winemaker chins during harvest to good use. Activities centre around three highlights: the winemakers’ hilarious Harvest Beard Parade, which this year includes popular drive-time radio host John Maytham and former supermodel Josie Borain among the judges; the so-called Botriviera feast of fresh and fabulous local produce; and, the Barrels & Beards charity fundraiser Best of Bot auction.

Of the three, the auction is the opportunity to experience Bot River and its gees (spirit) beyond the event itself. Lots assembled by the participating wine farms and organisers incorporate the zany and serious; the delicious and the unusual; the bountiful and the rare.

On offer are wine tastings of a privileged kind: with owners and winemakers themselves. There are extravagant meals and idyllic sleep-overs. And, of course there are wines.
   

Here’s the chance to bid for a Platter’s five-star wine and one of only six ever produced: a 5-litre bottle of Beaumont Wines Hope Marguerite 2016.

Perhaps the chance to be “wined and dined” by Luddite Wines’ incomparable winemaker Niels Verburg - in his mystery Barrels & Beards outfit – grabs your fancy. And what about that most magnificent of lots: a whole Overberg lamb from none other than 2016 Western Cape Farmer of the Year Josias le Roux, of local Langhoogte farm.

The Barrels & Beards auction has taken place since 2015 and raised R100 000 for charity each year. This year’s event will benefit the Bot River Education Foundation (BEF), which has since 2005 assisted promising high school students to gain entry to university.

The 2018 Bot River Barrels & Beards will take place at Wildekrans Wine Estate on Saturday, 21 April at 5pm and tickets cost R450 per adult.

1.         Anysbos 2.         Barton 3.         Beaumont 4.         Arcangeli 5.         Eerste Hoop 6.         Gabriëlskloof 7.         Luddite 8.         Genevieve

9.         Goedvertrouw 10.       Thorne & Daughters 11.       Momento 12.       Maremmana 13.       Paardenkloof 14.       Rivendell 15.       Wildekrans

The divine country getaway of Bot River lies a mere one hour’s drive up the N2 highway from Cape Town.

Online tickets for the 2018 Bot River Barrels & Beards are now available through www.quicket.co.za and selling fast. For enquiries and pre-bookings contact Ilze Henderson at Wildekrans Wine Estate at 028 284 9488 or email ilze@endlessgroup.co.za.