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

'The 2012 Chablis Forêt is all about texture. Describing the aromas and flavors is a bit futile, as it is the tactile sensations that captivate the senses. Persistent and silky, the 2012 boasts superb length and resonance. I imagine the Forêt will offer considerable pleasure as it develops in bottle over the next two decades. Bright, saline notes punctuate the highly expressive finish.' - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 93/100 (Jun 2014)

'Lime and white currant, wintergreen and iris scent the Raveneau 2012 Chablis La Foret, then inform a subtly silken, persistently succulent as well as vivacious palate, leading to a finish of exceptional sheer persistence incorporating invigorating piquancy of citrus zest and bittersweet liquid floral perfume not to mention copious and salivary gland-milking quantities of oyster liqueur and crustacean shell reductions. Bernard Raveneau suggests that the especially charming and forthcoming character of this wine may be in part a function of the vines' youthfulness (at 15 years, significantly surpassed by all of the estate's others, save those that inform its generic Chablis). But if so, I'd say these young vines are giving added value while exacting no detectable price! This should become a classic, and delight through at least 2022.' - David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate, 92-93/100 (Aug 2013)

'This is also very fresh if perhaps not quite as ripe, as the citrus, ocean breeze, petrol and floral aromas are cool and restrained. There is a lovely sense of underlying tension to the medium-bodied and attractively mineral-inflected medium-bodied flavors that possess both fine depth and length on the lingering finish that is both lean and dry.' - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 90/100 (Oct 2014)