At $1,400 per case, a single barrel of Katnook Estate’s 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon was the top-priced wine at the 2002 Coonawarra Cabernet Celebration’s Barrel Series auction held on Sunday 20th October. The sale raised a record $38,000 for the South Australian Autism Association, while an impromptu raffle generated $18,000 for the Red Cross Bali Appeal. This was the sixth staging of this auction, from which the net proceeds from the highest priced barrel are donated to charity. A highlight of the day was the donation of the entire $18,000 paid by Theo Karedis, owner of the Theo’s Liquor chain in NSW, to the Autism Association of South Australia, when he bought the barrel only to announce that it was to be re-auctioned. Top prices for barrels were $31,780 (Katnook Estate), $23,835 (for both Parker and Wynns) and $22,700 (Majella).
