Rhône Theme
Timed Online Auction, 13 - 20 February 2023
Rhône Theme
About the SessionThe first sale of the 2023 Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction calendar is an exciting Rhône valley and Rhône-style offering.
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About this Item
Penfolds was founded by Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold in 1844, who arrived in Australia with their vine cuttings in hand. They had no prior history in winemaking but set about inventing tonics, brandies, and fortified wines. Mary took charge, blending the wines to her taste and enforcing the winemaking philosophies that Penfolds still follows today. Penfolds Grange was created in the 1950s and holds a high reputation worldwide.
Sublime, voluptuous, beguiling, inviting, opulent, layered. These are some of the words often used to describe Penfolds Grange. Unlike the most expensive wines of Europe, Grange is not a single vineyard production, but rather a carefully blended composition of high-quality grapes harvested from a wide region. The craft and expertise that goes into each vintage gives Penfolds Grange its prestige pedigree.
Provenance
The Coats Family Cellar is arguably the most prestigious fine wine collection ever offered in South Africa. It contains a deep 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 reefer. 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
‘Still very deep in colour. Sweet and concentrated, and very Grange – absolutely distinctive in its opulence and concentration. After a big nose, the palate delivers barely believable depths of flavour. Utterly bewitching. You have to hand it to them – this delivers on all fronts, and deserves its throne. Just so expressive!’ - Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson.com, 19.5/20 (Mar 2021)
'Deep crimson. Intense dark plum, mulberry, blackberry, roasted chestnut, tobacco, chinotto and liquorice notes. Inky deep with mulberry, black cherry, blackberry and chinotto fruits, fine loose-knit chalky textures, attractive mid-palate density and dark chocolate and mocha oak complexity. Finishes chocolaty with a long tannin plume. Superbly balanced with sweet ripe fruit, perfectly attuned oak, integrated tannins and acidity. Supple and seamless in structure. A great Grange vintage. Drink now to 2055.' - Penfolds - The Reward of Patience, 5* (Sept 2020)
‘Very deep garnet in color, the 1998 Penfolds Grange has shut itself away into a closed stage at this time, offering a subdued core of blackberry preserves and blackcurrant cordial with nuances of smoked bacon, black olives, sandalwood and sweaty leather. The full bodied, taut, muscular palate is firmly structured with chewy tannins and enlivening acidity, finishing long and savory. Consider drinking it 2016 to 2030+.’ - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, 96/100 (May 2012)
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