NZ Winemaker Opens His Cellar For Auction To Reveal Local Vintages of 50 - 100 Years Old
On Monday August 11, Assid K Corban (OBE) 89 years old & elder statesman of pioneering New Zealand winemakers Corban's, will be offering a limited quantity of his own private
cellared wines for auction at Webbs Auction House in Auckland with highlights from our viticultural past including early
Corban’s ‘Red’ Port, bottled in 1910 and Corban’s Muscatel ‘Special Vintage’ especially created in 1925 to celebrate the
birth of the first Corban grandson.
Established in 1902 by Assid Abraham Corban in Henderson, Auckland, the first Corban’s vineyards were completed in 1907,
and for much of the first half of the twentieth century the winery that Corban founded dominated the New Zealand wine
scene.
Its reputation for quality began with the 1913–14 Auckland Industrial and Agricultural Wine Exhibition, where Corbans
competed against wines from the British Empire – the 1910 Corban’s ‘Red’ Port, and sherry winning gold medals in
addition to silver medals for its claret and red wine. In later years the Corban’s ‘Red’ Port won the only gold medal at
the 1925 Adelaide International Wine Competition.
From it’s pioneering and innovative beginnings, Corban’s’ have continued to produce award winning wines, liqueurs,
vermouths, Ports & Sherries, with it’s fortified wines using grape (brandy) spirit and matured in oak barrels for up to 15 years in some
cases, before bottling and being sold.
Assid K Corban, OBE (the fourth winemaker of Corban’s) begun cellaring many of these earlier wines, and now in his
twilight years will be releasing more than 70 lots from his personal collection. They have been cellared in a stable
atmosphere and the Corban’s branded wines have an average age of 50 years as identified on the certificate attached to
each bottle (lots 358-373). In addition are a number of International wines & spirits purchased by Assid over the years.
Some highlights include:
1 x 1964 Penfolds Grange Hermitage
1 x 1968 Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
1 x 1964 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache
1 x 1966 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Richebourg
1 x 1925 Corban’s Muscatel ‘Special Vintage’
1 x Corban’s ‘Red’ Port, bottled in 1910
ENDS