Rhône Theme

Timed Online Auction, 13 - 20 February 2023

Rhône Theme
About the Session

The first sale of the 2023 Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction calendar is an exciting Rhône valley and Rhône-style offering.


Sold for

ZAR 41 038
Lot 100
  • Penfolds; Grange; 1961; 1 (1 x 1); 750ml


Lot Estimate
ZAR 40 000 - 55 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 41 038

About this Item

1961 Grange
1 (1 x 1) 750ml

Penfolds was founded by Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold in 1844, who arrived in Australia with their vine cuttings in hand. They had no prior history in winemaking but set about inventing tonics, brandies, and fortified wines. Mary took charge, blending the wines to her taste and enforcing the winemaking philosophies that Penfolds still follows today. Penfolds Grange was created in the 1950s and holds a high reputation worldwide.

Sublime, voluptuous, beguiling, inviting, opulent, layered. These are some of the words often used to describe Penfolds Grange. Unlike the most expensive wines of Europe, Grange is not a single vineyard production, but rather a carefully blended composition of high-quality grapes harvested from a wide region. The craft and expertise that goes into each vintage gives Penfolds Grange its prestige pedigree.

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

'Beautiful old Grange showing developed dark chocolate, panforte and tobacco leaf characters and fine, persistent graphite tannins. Still has mid-palate richness and amplitude. Very rare.' - Penfolds - The Reward of Patience (Sept 2020)

‘Rich, mature and gloriously alive, with concentrated cherry, plum, spice and vanilla flavors that rev up and ring through the long finish. Elegant and in perfect shape.’  - Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator, 92/100 (Jan 1997)

View all Penfolds lots for sale in this auction