Provenance

The Coats Family Cellar is arguably the most prestigious fine wine collection ever offered in South Africa. It contains an expansive collection of the worlds finest, most sought-after wines, spanning over 150 years. Collected over many decades, the cellar was imported from Ireland to South Africa via refrigerated container. Each bottle within the Coats Family Cellar was authenticated by Michael Egan in August 2022 and given an ID number for tracking.

Michael Egan is a world-expert in fine and rare wines with more than thirty five years of experience. He was the principal expert for the plaintiff in the two major wine counterfeiting trials in Koch v. Eric Greenberg and United States v. Rudy Kurniawan, both of which occurred in 2013.

Along with Michael Egan, the Strauss & Co Fine Wine team have tasted extensively through the cellar and are confident of the wine storage and hence quality. The entire collection is currently stored at Wine Cellar.

Critics Ratings

Jancis Robinson
Describes Harlan as ‘one of the ten best wines of the twentieth century’.
‘Harlan Estate stands as one of the benchmarks not only of Napa Valley but also of Bordeaux blends around the world.’
‘‘No expense spared’’ is a cliché, but one that is appropriate for Harlan Estate.’

Tasting Harlan 2002 in Nov 2007: ‘Extremely voluptuous and flattering – essence of Napa Valley and the richest form of Cabernet Sauvignon… Harlan has arguably perfected the art of producing Napa Valley Cabernet that is nothing at all like red Bordeaux, but succeeds on its own terms.’

Vertical Tasting - Vintages 2008 – 2012:
‘What was consistent across the flight was detail with restraint, a savoury persistence undergirding the fruit, resinous herbs and mixed earth tones, and a respect for both fine tannin and elongated acidity. Oak was certainly present while deftly executed. It stood as a respectful element bringing texture and light flavour accents without overpowering the wines.’

Robert Parker
Has scored four vintages the ‘Perfect score’ of 100 Parker Points, contributing to the wine’s high price, scarcity and acclaim. (1995, 1997, 2001 and 2002; of which 1997 and 2002 are included in the NFT).

‘Harlan produced three vintages before he deemed one worthy of sale. Since that 1990 release, four vintages of Harlan Estate Proprietary Red have earned perfect ratings of 100. Harlan has never produced more than 2,000 cases a year.’ – Wine, Sep 2007

'all the elements of greatness – individuality, power combined with elegance, extraordinary complexity, remarkable aging potential and compelling richness without ponderousness.’

‘Harlan Estate might be the single most profound red wine made not just in California, but in the World.’

Decanter
‘Harlan's wines have been uniformly dense, rich and complex yet remarkably elegant and polished. While most of the vintages from 1990 through 1997 were Cabernet Sauvignon-based Bordeaux blends, as of the 1998 vintage, the wine is 100 percent Cabernet. It is quite successful, very dark, thick and plush.’ – James Laube, Decanter.com, April 2000

Antonio Galloni, Vinous
‘It is obvious that Harlan Estate reaches its apogee of expressiveness at about twenty years of age.’
‘The 2010 Harlan Estate is a total head-turner... Powerful, dense and exotically ripe.’
'The 2007 Harlan Estate is fabulous. Explosive and dense, with tremendous persistence, the 2007 has all of the opulence and raciness that makes the wines from this vintage so distinctive.’
‘Open-knit, sensual and perfumed, the 2005 Harlan Estate is super-expressive.’