Critics Ratings

‘The 1959 La Mission Haut-Brion is usually explosive on the nose, although this bottle is more “controlled” and less voluptuous. The intense red fruit intermingles with sandalwood, cedar and mint, gaining power with aeration and cohering with every swirl of the glass. The palate is very balanced with a saline entry, more black than red fruit, armed with black truffle and allspice towards the finish that I find fresher than the 1959 Haut-Brion poured alongside.’ - Neal Martin, Vinous, 98/100 (Nov 2020)

‘Very dark – darker than the 1961 – with the colour still right out to the rim. More concentrated and even sweeter than the 1961, with which it is inevitably compared. Very powerful and dense. Luscious, long and tense. Sweet, very rich, rather medicinal. Wonderful stuff.’ - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 19.5/20 (Jun 2008)

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.