Critics Ratings

‘Smudgy nose, quite a cocktail, although a bit subdued at the moment. Good fresh fruit but not desperately expressive yet.' - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 17+/20 (Nov 2008)

‘Fourrier’s 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.-Jacques reveals a gorgeous aroma of black fruits, rose, truffle, tea and musk, a marrowy, creamy richness of texture, and a riveting finishing complexity of fruit, meat, flowers, pungent spices and minerals. If this is not a case of progression into the territory of grand cru quality, I don’t know what is. I would plan to start following this from ten years out and anticipate at least a second decade of improvement.' - David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate, 94-95/100 (Apr 2007)

'Good deep red. Knockout nose combines raspberry, mocha, roast coffee, game and minerals, accented by mint and oak spice. The palate offers a lush wall of thick fruit that saturates the entire palate without leaving any impression of weight. This densely packed beauty finishes extremely long and smooth, with utterly suave tannins and superb aromatic lift.' - Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, 94+/100 (Mar 2008)

'As is sometimes the case with the Fourrier wines, this was initially reduced and required vigorous swirling to gradually dissipate the funk. Otherwise, like many '05s at this stage in their evolution this remains reserved and tight but the concentration and balance is seriously impressive. That said, the reserved nose, while offering glimpses of what is to come, is still notably closed and the supporting tannins shaping the impressively scaled flavors remain markedly firm. The length and depth are equally impressive and about the only nit of significance is a trace of backend warmth. I remain highly optimistic that in time this is going to be a genuinely great Clos St. Jacques but for now it's basically infanticide, and this is true even with extended aeration as I set my glass aside to see how it would develop with extended aeration. I would advise just letting this slumber away for the better part of another decade as it's going to need it but when it finally matures, we're in for a real treat! Tasted thrice in the last 4 years with almost identical results.' - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 94/100 (Mar 2019)

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.