For the second time in a row, the Rheingau wine auction is taking place exclusively on the internet and not in the dormitory of Eberbach Abbey due to the pandemic.
This once again interrupts the tradition of the "wet" auction, in which more than 400 guests can taste many of the auction wines immediately before the bid is accepted.
For 2023, the Verband der Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) hopes for a hybrid auction again, which will have viewers and bidders both in the monastery and worldwide in front of the computer.
Oliver Bock
Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.
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For the first time, all bottles from the 48 auction lots are secured using blockchain technology.
For this purpose, each of the almost 3000 auction bottles is sealed with a so-called NFC chip.
This near-field communication chip is designed to guarantee the authenticity of the good wine and protect it from counterfeit wine.
This chip can be used to transmit contactless data over a short distance using electromagnetic induction.
Such chips are used, for example, in smartphones and giro cards for contactless payment.
A Swiss company has adapted this technology for the wine trade.
The non-removable chips are encrypted.
Because they are positioned at the top of the bottle, the chip recognizes an opening in the bottle.
It is therefore not possible to uncork the bottle and fill it later with another wine, the VDP reports.
Twelve wineries involved in auction
Blockchain technology enables this protection against counterfeit wine.
The owner of the auctioned bottle can scan the chip with his smartphone and save a digital bottle twin in his digital wine cellar.
As a result, the bidder is stored in the blockchain and cannot be changed, and a unique ownership history is created for each bottle.
The VDP sees added value for all wine enthusiasts, collectors, dealers and also for the wineries in this "innovative guarantee of authenticity".
A total of twelve Rheingau wineries take part in the wine auction, and their wines are auctioned off by eight commission agents.
Among other things, the “VDP.Auktion.Réserve” wines, which have been bottled especially for the annual auction since 2016, will go under the hammer of auctioneer Ulrich Allendorf on Saturday.
The catalog lists a total of ten Pinot Noir wines.
Particularly high prices are again expected for selected rarities such as a 1915 Schloss Johannisberger Riesling Beerenauslese "Dunkelblaulack" and a 1972 Pinot Noir Höllenberg Auslese Eiswein from the Hessian State Wineries.
This year's benefit wine also comes from their cellar.
It is a 1952 Assmannshäuser Höllenberg Pinot Noir Cabinet, the proceeds of which will benefit the planned motor skills center at a day-care center in Eltville.
Again there are wines in large special bottles with a capacity of up to twelve liters, which are offered once at the auction.
The two Hochheim wineries, Künstler and Domdechant Werner, have also packed assortment boxes, each with six bottles of different vintages of a high-quality wine from the top location Kirchenstück, so that the bidder can taste how well the Riesling can mature during a so-called vertical tasting.