Critics Ratings

'A demure yet confident beauty, the 1982 Lafite is in its prime and will delight anyone privy to an audience. Scents of tobacco, sandalwood and spice box waft with increasing intensity as this sits in the glass, then it floats across the palate leaving a persistent trail of stony minerals: flint and graphite along with preserved cherries are laced with sweet, smoky incense, and radiant acidity gives a perception of weightlessness while shedding light on the wine’s depths. So effortlessly and elegantly framed, and as exquisitely perfect as this is now, there is nothing to suggest it will fade any time soon.' - Michaela Morris, Decanter.com, 100/100 (May 2023)

‘The 1982 Lafite-Rothschild can be a variable performer. There was a period when it was dwarfed by Latour. However, two recent bottles demonstrate a wine that perhaps has just taken 30+ years to reach its zenith. The bouquet is very intense with blackberry, cedar, graphite and hints of morels, gathering momentum in the glass, perhaps with just a touch more VA than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied and very fresh, lively and tensile with a fine thread of acidity. There is more cohesion and finesse than bottles encountered a decade ago, and a delicate but firm structure that frames the pure blackberry and cedar notes on the sustained finish. Wonderful.’ - Neal Martin, Vinous, 97/100 (Jul 2018)

‘Perfumed, mineral, salty, long and juicy with a slightly drying finish. But overall transparent and nervy with some fine Lafite quality.’ - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 18/20 (May 2018)

'This is a denser version of the 1990 that stylistically reminds me of what the young 1959 probably tasted like. Still backward with a deep ruby/plum color revealing only a touch of lightening at the edge, the wine offers up an extraordinary nose of caramelized herbs, smoke, cedar, pen ink, black currants, and earth. The gorgeous aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, plump, rich, fleshy wine with low acidity. With 6-8 hours decanting in a closed decanter, it will offer beautiful drinking, but it needs another 5-8 years to reach full maturity. It is capable of lasting 50-60 years. This classic Lafite is not as fat and concentrated as the 1982 Latour, nor as complex or concentrated as the 1982 Mouton Rothschild, but it is a winner all the same.’ - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, 97+/100 (Jun 2009)

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.