So where was I the morning after the close of a highly successful SWC campaign? Ironically at Nederburg in Paarl, the home of Fifa's official wine of the 2010 tournament, at 7am, with the temperature gauge in the car registering zero degrees.

Beautiful 2010 displays greeted me in the sales and conference centre and were a wistful reminder of the past month, which, looking back, seemed to pass far too quickly in a haze of colourful, completely Afrocentric soccer activity – a distinctly successful PR campaign with the vuvuzela as its unique angle that cast this country firmly into the international spotlight.
And so, in the aftermath of Footie 2010, a chilly morning in Paarl greeted various representatives from the wine media fraternity, who staved off the frost with a tasting of approximately 50 wines across the selection on offer at this year's 36th Nederburg Auction.
In a fitting tribute to the auction's heritage, which showcased just 15 wines in 1975, several very rare old vintages are included in the mix for buyers this year. Media were afforded the opportunity to sample a few of these gems, including a Chateau Libertas 1967, which Neil Pendock summed up as a "fine old Burgundy". Former Wine magazine editor Christian Eedes gave Zonnebloem's 1974 Shiraz a score of 18 out of 20, while the older Noble Late Harvests found favour with Beeld's Nonnie Dedekind. She described the Nederburg Eminence and Edelkeur wines as the 'vuvuzela of Nederburg'.
Comments from other media guests about the high quality, rarity and standard of this year's wines lead me to believe that this year's offering of 162 items will hopefully do well under Anthony Barne's hammer on Sept 3 and 4 – perhaps also thanks in part to a bit of soccer 'gees'?