Rhône Theme
Timed Online Auction, 2 - 12 February 2024
Rhône | International & South African offering
About the SessionThe first sale of the 2024 Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction calendar is an exciting Rhône valley and Rhône-style offering and has fast-become one of the most popular at Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auctions.
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About this Item
Sine Qua Non is one of California's most famous wine producers. Based just north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, and with most of its vineyards in Santa Barbara, it eschews the usual image of top California wine as being only from Napa Valley. That is not the only thing eschewed at Sine Qua Non – the same wine is rarely made more than once, turning the idea of the American icon wine on its head.
The brand has become a cult favorite since its beginnings. Small volumes mean that demand has consistently outstripped supply and, like many top Californian producers, Sine Qua Non has employed a mailing list to sell wines directly to customers. The wines fetch top prices on the secondary market, often reaching more than $1000, and occasionally much higher: in 2014, a single bottle of Sine Qua Non rosé from the 1995 vintage fetched $42,780 at auction.
Sine Qua Non is one of the most famous cult wineries in the world and winemaker, Manfred Krankl, is celebrated for crafting tiny quantities of unique Rhône-inspired wines from exceptional vineyards across the Californian Central Coast. The Syrah and Grenache releases from 2003 vintage were named ‘The Inaugural’ as they were the first wines to be made using fruit entirely from the 11 Confessions Estate Vineyard.
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.
Michael Egan Authentication code - 1336
Critics Ratings
‘2003 The Inaugural Grenache: The first 100% estate wine from the 11 Confessions Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, this blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, aged 38 months in French oak, is prodigious. A wine capable of overflowing the olfactory sensory zones as well as the palate, the wine offers up notes of wood smoke, roasted meats and sweet Asian plum sauce intermixed with soy, balsamic, blackberry liqueur and black cherries. A massive Grenache that is full-bodied and has held up magnificently to its 38 months of aging in French oak, this wine is just now beginning to enter an adolescent stage of development, where it should continue to develop additional complexity for another 10+ years. Just remarkable!’ – Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, 100/100 (Aug 2011)
‘Bright ruby. Explosively aromatic bouquet shows an exotic array of red and dark fruits, Asian spices, incense, fresh flowers and minerals; smells like a head shop. Graceful strawberry and raspberry flavors are remarkably pure and fresh, offering a jaw-dropping combination of concentration and vivacity, and picking up anise, candied rose and baking spices with air. Clings to the palate yet seems almost weightless, finishing with amazing clarity and persistence. Really remarkable wine.’ – Josh Raynolds, Vinous, 96/100 (Nov 2007)
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