According to today’s Sunday Times, the most likely competition to well-known philanthropist Wendy Appelbaum at Saturday’s SARS auction of tax-dodger Dave King’s wine estate was none other than Shoprite boss Whitey Basson.

Potential buyers and guests looked on in amazement as the bids rose in R5-million increments - before Appelbaum eventually claimed the Quoin Rock Winery and Manor Estate for R60-million. Of course it was our Wendy’s good fortune that SARS only wanted to get the R47-m and costs out of the deal so they were not likely to turn down the price.

Whitey Basson was a registered bidder but kept a low profile throughout. He said afterwards that he was "just having a look around". The estate was knocked down after he declined to top Appelbaum's bid.

The estate had gone under the hammer to settle huge tax debts racked up by tycoon Dave King, who controlled the company that owned it.

The immaculate estate, initially valued at R120-million with assets worth another R30-million, was sold as a going concern.

Appelbaum looked calm and content as auctioneer Rael Levitt confirmed her winning R55-million bid, plus R5-million in commission.

The Shoprite boss’s spokesperson, Sarita van Wyk said he had a price in mind, but when bids exceeded that, he decided not to pursue it. "He said the farm was a very good buy, but that it was the wrong time for him to buy it."

Appelbaum also kept a low profile and did not give interviews afterwards. She followed up her purchase by bidding for other items on auction, including various pieces of furniture that formed part of King's liquidated estate.

Among her purchases were a French provincial walnut armoire and a hand-knotted Ziegler carpet. Appelbaum is the daughter of South African billionaire and Liberty Life founder Donald Gordon, who now lives in the UK.

Appelbaum and her husband Hylton already own DeMorgenzon, a wine estate in Stellenbosch where baroque music is piped to the vines day and night.

Quoin Rock is a 194ha property on the foothills of the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch, one of South Africa's most valuable agricultural belts.

It was attached in July by SARS, who has been embroiled in a fierce battle with King for more than a decade over an alleged R2.8-billion tax bill - in his personal capacity and via a company owned by a trust of which he is a beneficiary. SARS seized the estate after declaring it had failed to submit returns and owed R47-million.

SARS has relentlessly targeted assets owned by companies linked to King, including real estate, a private jet which took him on global golf jaunts and his art collection. The entrepreneur has fought tooth and nail to keep SARS at bay.

The wine estate boasts a plush Cape Dutch homestead built by King, a state-of-the-art wine cellar, chandeliers, Victorian baths, an underground entertainment area, guest cottages and a helipad.

The sumptuous estate is a far cry from King's humble beginnings as a Scots immigrant who reportedly arrived in South Africa with just R170 in his pocket in the late 1970s.

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