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

‘The 1949 Mouton Rothschild is a wine that I have never tasted but as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. It is blessed with a bewitching bouquet that is atypically outgoing and sensual for a usually more conservative millésime: copious red berry fruit, blood orange, graphite, Tuscan delicatessen with sawdust sprinkled over the floor, overripe Satsuma and whatever menthol was left over from the ’45. But this is all delivered with the most sensational detail and delineation that you are lost for words. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent, lithe tannin, precocious red fruit that seem confit-like, glimpses of dried blood, cassis, sandalwood and fresh figs that have a crystalline quality that is bewildering. Michael Broadbent once gave the 1949 Mouton-Rothschild six stars. This bottle evinced why he had every right to deceive mathematical logic.’ – Neal Martin, Vinous, 100/100 (Jun 2018)

‘Very, very dark crimson. Rich and round and complete. Full and flattering. Mouton really did seem to be on a roll in the late 1940s... Baron Philippe at his most determined? Mouton was, after all, still a second growth at this stage.’ - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 19/20 (Nov 2007)

‘The 1949's bouquet offers copious amounts of sweet, ripe cassis fruit, herbs, spicy oak, and a touch of coffee and cinnamon. Medium-bodied, with moderate tannin still noticeable, this compact, dark garnet, opaquely-colored wine possesses superb concentration and a remarkably long finish. It appears to be fully mature, yet the balance, length, and tannin level suggest this wine could last for another 20 years. The 1949 was always considered to be the late Baron's favorite vintage. While I find it a formidable Mouton, I have a preference for the 1945, 1947, 1959, 1982, and 1986.’ – Robert Parker Jr, Wine Advocate, 94/100 (Jan 1998)