Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2020
SKU
CESE202010 UCAU
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James Suckling 97-98 Points
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62% cabernet and 38% merlot.
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Really long with beautiful tannins. Rich, but fresh and linear. Yet, the alcohol is around 13.5%
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1 or more bottles$624.99
Editors notes
Deeply colored, the 2018 Cos D'Estournel shows the incredible purity and elegance that this estate delivers these days as well as fabulous crème de cassis, graphite, white flowers, and spicy oak aromas and flavors. Made from 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, aging in 50% new barrels, it builds with time in the glass and has a full-bodied, decadent yet also seamless mouthfeel, layers of tannins, and a great finish. This is as classy as it gets and certainly a candidate for the King of Saint-Estèphe in 2018. Given its purity and balance as well as depth of fruit, it should offer loads of pleasure in its youth yet also evolve nicely for 3-4 decades. This estate has been on an incredible roll over the past 7-8 years and this is another killer wine.
- Jeb Dunnuck
Details
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Wine Type
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Vintage
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Variety
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Brand
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Location
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Cellaring
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Closure
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Alcohol Percentage
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Bottle Size
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Oak Type
Tasting Profile
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Sweet (Sweet)Dry (Dry)
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Low Acidity (Low Acidity)High Acidity (High Acidity)
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Aroma
- Blueberry
- Boysenberry
- Herbal
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Palate
- Blue Fruits
- Cassis
- Graphite
Food Pairings
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Pork -
Red Meat
Critic Scores & reviews
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Decanter
99"A first-growth level wine. With aristocratic ease it conveys nimble energy and sneaky sensuality. Pencil lead, white tobacco, cassis, juicy blackberry and cherry gorgeously delineated with refined tannins providing impressive structure for long-term cellaring. The pH is the highest since 2003, but you get neither heat nor imbalance. Impressive dry extract and rather 'normal' alcohol at 13.5% evokes a positively classic feel, leading to a subtle yet super-long finish. For owner Michel Reybier, the vintage marks 20 years of 'passion at the helm'. Comes encased in a uniquely gold-coloured engraved bottle with the phrase 'C’était Cos sinon rien' - Cos or nothing else."
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Jeb Dunnuck
99"Based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, the deep purple-hued 2020 Château Cos D'Estournel has, dare I say, an almost Lafite-like sense of elegance and class, offering gorgeous cassis and darker currants fruits as well as tobacco, lead pencil, acacia flowers, and graphite. Hitting 13.46 alcohol, with a pH of 3.9 and an IPT of 80, this flawless, full-bodied, incredibly elegant Saint-Estèphe has silky tannins, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. It will need a decade of cellaring to hit its prime drink window. Of the trilogy of 2018, 2019, and 2020, it's clearly my favorite (that’s splitting hairs), with a similarity to the 2016, and will most likely merit another point at maturity. *#2 Wine of the Year 2023*"
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James Suckling
98"This is a very refined, polished Cos with superb finesse and length. Medium-to full-bodied, very fine and persistent. Really long with beautiful tannins. Rich, but fresh and linear. Yet, the alcohol is around 13.5%. 62% cabernet and 38% merlot."
Other vintages
Love this wine? Here's a list of other vintages we have in stock if you'd like to try them as well.
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- Variety Cabernet Blend
- Vintage 2018
- Brand Chateau Cos d'Estournel
- Cellaring 15 Plus Years
- Wine Type Red
- Alcohol Percentage 14.5% Alcohol
Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2018 6L-
Antonio Galloni97 points
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Jeb Dunnuck97 points
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Lisa Perrotti-B97 points
$4,200.00 -
- Variety Cabernet Blend
- Vintage 2018
- Brand Chateau Cos d'Estournel
- Cellaring 15 Plus Years
- Wine Type Red
- Alcohol Percentage 14.5% Alcohol
Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2018 1.5L-
Antonio Galloni97 points
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Jeb Dunnuck97 points
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Lisa Perrotti-B97 points
$1,015.00 -
- Variety Cabernet Blend
- Vintage 2018
- Brand Chateau Cos d'Estournel
- Cellaring 15 Plus Years
- Wine Type Red
- Alcohol Percentage 14.5% Alcohol
Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2018-
Antonio Galloni97 points
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Jeb Dunnuck97 points
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Lisa Perrotti-B97 points
$495.00
Current auction
All current auctions for this wine & any different vintages.
Locations
France
Wine is being produced throughout France and has been done for over 2,500 years with certain Châteaux dating their history back to Roman times, around 6th Century BC. Ranking second in the world in per-capita consumption and first in total production quantity. More so than the overall quantity of wine is the quantity of truly great wines coming out of France makes the nation the envy of wine-making nations worldwide.
Two concepts pivotal to the higher end French wines, in particular, are the idea of 'terroir' and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. Terroir refers to the way the geography, geology and climate find their way into the glass, telling a story of the origin of the wine. The AOC was set up in 1935 and has the primary goal of protecting the authenticity of the wines and the livelihoods of the producers. Appellation rules strictly define which varieties of grapes and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or in some cases, like in Burgundy even specific vineyards.
Classic wine regions in France include Champagne (home of Champagne), Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot), Alsace (Aromatic varietals), Loire Valley (Chenin Blanc, Crémant) and the Rhône Valley (Syrah, Grenache Mourvedre)
The Bordeaux classification of 1855 is still in use, as is the Sauternes and Barsac Classification of the same year. Wines from certain regions can be bought En Primeur, which is when the wine is sold prior to it being bottled.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux has a rich history of winemaking, dating back to the Roman times. Today, it is known as one of the most significant wine regions in the world, with a reputation for producing complex, full-bodied red wines. The region is home to a diverse range of terroirs, each with its own unique microclimate, soil composition, and grape varieties.
The left bank of Bordeaux is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, which thrives in the region's gravelly soils. These wines tend to be bold, tannic, and complex, with notes of blackcurrant, cedar, and tobacco. On the right bank, Merlot is king, producing wines that are softer and fruitier, with notes of plum, cherry, and chocolate.
Aside from the red blends, Bordeaux is also renowned for its sweet wines, particularly from the Sauternes and Barsac appellations. These wines are made using a unique process that involves botrytis, or "noble rot," which concentrates the sugars in the grapes, resulting in a lusciously sweet and complex wine.
Bordeaux's classification system has evolved over time, with some estates moving up or down the ranks depending on the quality of their wines. Today, the system includes five growths, with Premier Cru being the highest and Deuxièmes Crus being the second-highest. There is also a separate classification for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, with Chateau d’Yquem holding the highest rank.
Overall, Bordeaux is a region that continues to captivate wine enthusiasts around the world with its rich history, diverse terroirs, and exceptional wines.
Saint-Estephe
Saint-Estèphe is a single-commune, red-wine-only appellation on the left bank of the Gironde estuary in the Haut-Médoc subregion of Bordeaux, France. It is the northernmost of the Left Bank Médoc communes (the other three being Pauillac, Saint-Julien, and Margaux), as well as the coolest, thanks to its nearness to the Atlantic Ocean. Roughly half of the plantings here are Cabernet Sauvignon, which thrives on the area’s warm, gravelly soils. Merlot, planted on more clay soils, makes up the bulk of the remainder. Wines from Saint-Estèphe are typically full of character, with intense aromas and flavours of blackcurrant, green capsicum, and red plums, alongside cedar and vanilla notes from the influence of oak. They are generally medium to high in alcohol, have robust tannins (which can soften with years of bottle ageing), and are medium- to full-bodied.
About the brand Chateau Cos d'Estournel
The name cos (with the s pronounced) refers to a "Hill of pebbles" in gascon dialect and the name cos d'estournel was given in 1810 by louis-gaspard d'estournel.
The estate has changed hands several times during its history, starting in 1852 when it was purchased by the english banker charles cecil martyns. In 1869, it was sold to the spanish errazu family only to be sold again 20 years later in 1889 to the bordeaux-based hostein family. Through his marriage to marie-thérèse hostein, louis-victor charmolue, who also owned château montrose, gained control of cos d'estournel in 1894. In finally in 1917, it was sold to fernand ginestet.
The château has remained in the ginestet family since then, becoming in 1970 part of domaines prats, the combined holdings of the ginestet and prats families, and controlled by bruno prats.
In june 2008 it was announced that michel reybier, current owner of cos d'estournel, purchased napa winery chateau montelena for an undisclosed sum.By november 2008, however, this agreement was cancelled,the termination of the transaction by chateau montelena stated to be due to that reybier investments had been "Unable to meet its obligations.
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