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 a saturated ruby-black in hue, the 1989 Pape Clément remains very youthful and goes from strength to strength as it evolves. Offering up a rich bouquet of sweet, smoky berry fruit, loamy soil, black truffles and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with superb depth at the core, ripe but lively acids and a long, penetrating finish. This serious wine is notably underrated.’ - William Kelley, Wine Advocate, 94/100 (Aug 2022)

‘The fragrant, well-defined bouquet presents pressed flowers, melted asphalt, brambly red fruit and orange blossoms. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm tannin, plenty of cedar and black pepper; more pencil lead develops with aeration that might lead you to the Médoc. There is good density here, perhaps indicating a Pape Clément that will benefit from a good decant or indeed, further cellaring. Very fine old-school Pessac-Léognan.’ - Neal Martin, Vinous, 91/100 (Sept 2019)