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

'One of the great renditions of this cuvée in recent times is the 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques, a magical wine that unfurls in the glass with a deep and complex bouquet of red berries and plums mingled with hints of raw cocoa, violets, blood orange and peony, complemented by enticing carnal bass notes. Full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, it's seamless and complete, with fine concentration, racy but ripe acids and ample reserves of fine, powdery tannin, concluding with a long and sapid finish. The 2005 Clos Saint-Jacques is a decade away from full maturity, but its reference-point quality has long been impossible to miss. This bottle, enjoyed in a Burgundian restaurant, only amplified my regret that I have none of this particular vintage in my own cellar.' - William Kelley, Wine Advocate, 97/100 (Jul 2020)

'This is the first wine in this line-up to have been raised exclusively in new oak. Deep and apparently glowing with health. Extremely rich and absorbing on the nose. Exciting, cherry-like fruit. Very transparent and energetic – what a vineyard! Racy, morello cherry fruit that invites you to see what glows through it. The oak is perceptible only at the very end of the palate. Long, flirtatious health juice.' - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 18+/20 (Aug 2007)

'A subtle trace of wood frames the bright red Pinot fruit and naturally spicy nose that is extremely fresh and this sense of vibrancy and freshness suffuses the rich, round and even more powerful lithe and tautly shaped flavors replete with the same energy and precision of the Ruchottes, all wrapped in a stony and perfectly balanced finish that seems to have no end. A stunning wine that should age for years and this is potentially the best CSJ that I have seen in the last 20 years.' - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 94/100 (Jan 2008)