2013 CH COS D'ESTOURNEL 2ÈME CRU ST ESTÈPHE - 6x150cl

Tasting Notes

• 

  Goedhuis, April 2014,
  Score: 89-91

  Arguably St Estèphe’s most successful wine in 2013. This has deep spiced dark wild berry fruit aromas with a relatively warm fruit feel for the vintage. Whilst not overtly powerful, there is good weight and hints of sweet fruit on the finish.

• 

  Neal Martin, October 2016,
  Score: 91

  The 2013 Cos d'Estournel has a fine bouquet: no vegetal signs here, clean and precise with blackberry, briary and iodine scents. While it does not possess this estate's usual complexity you have to admire the delineation interwoven into this wine. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well judged acidity, a gentle grip in the mouth and well integrated oak. There is still some edginess on the grainy finish that will be addressed by another 3-4 years in bottle, but this is certainly one of the better 2013s and it should give 15 years of pleasure.

• 

  Neal Martin, April 2014,
  Score: 91-93

  The Grand Vin is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc picked between 27 September and 10 October at 26.3hl/ha. It is being raised in 60% new oak and the alcohol level is around 12.7%. The fruit was sorted in the vineyard, two trips through the vineyard to weed out the millerande berries. I like the focus on the nose. It is not powerful but it is intense and very well defined with blackberry and cassis notes unfolding in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, a crisp level of acidity and overall, a somewhat relaxed feel, a nonchalant Cos d'Estournel that has accepted the growing season for what it is. It is actually cut from a similar cloth to the Montrose this year, although I find a little more persistency coming through towards the finish. This is a decent Cos d'Estournel that will need 4 to 6 years in bottle.

• 

  Decanter, April 2014,
  Score: 91

  Rich colour, fragrant nose with fine aromatic complexity to come, robust and slightly spicy on the palate, leaner than usual, good long-term. Drink: 2019-2030

• 

  Matthew Jukes, April 2014,
  Score: 17.5

  Wow a ‘feminine’, beautiful, fragrant Cos. A rare beast indeed with incredible delicacy and charm. Purists might miss the point here, but taken as a standalone wine this is a beauty. Pure, bright and an extraordinary expression from this Château perhaps more famous for making hefty, pumped-up wines! I love the perfume – it is exotic, haunting and magnetic. The team never believed, in early September when the heavens opened, that they could make something as lip-smacking as this wine. Strangely, they had to learn ‘how to make a lower alcohol wine’. The warm spells in July and August saved the vintage. It could have been disastrous without this lift in the ripeness. Yields are one third down at 26hl/ha. They could have picked later but, on reflection, they would have made an overbalanced wine and so in 2013 Cos has made a rare and wonderful addition to its family.

• 

  Jancis Robinson, April 2014,
  Score: 17.5

  78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Closed on the nose, very strong tannins binding everything together – great depth and concentration and power – yet at such modest alcohol. This is a rare advantage of 2013; flavour ripeness at lower alcohol. Pretty impenetrable at this stage. Deserves the same cellaring as a ‘normal’ vintage to give it the best opportunity. (RH)

• 

  Tim Atkin, May 2014,
  Score: 93

  After some atypical releases in recent years, most notably the body built 2009, this is a welcome return to a more classic style of Cos, with firm, St Estèphe tannins, good grip and structure and a fresh, acid-driven finish. Appealingly low in alcohol at only 12.7%, too. 2020-30

More Tasting Notes Hide More Tasting Notes

Producer

Château Cos d'Estournel

Resembling an ancient Indian palace, Cos d'Estournel is like no other Bordeaux château. The estate was founded in the early 19th century by Louis Gaspard d'Estournel and the château was built once the vineyards were established as a celebration of his conquests in the Far East. Since 2000, Cos d’Estournel has been in the hands of French hotelier Michel Reybier. Under Reybier’s direction, the château has thrived. In 2007 he commissioned a state-of-the-art wine cellar, the first in Bordeaux to use solely gravity (no pumps). The 91-hectare vineyard is planted to a majority Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot (33%), Cabernet Franc (1%) and Petit Verdot (1%) and produces the Grand Vin Cos d’Estournel and a second wine, Pagodes de Cos.