Les Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel Saint-Estèphe AOP, Magnum

Auf dem Hügel von Cos, einem hervorragenden Terroir mit dem kühlen Einfluss des nahegelegenen Atlantiks, befinden sich die Weinberge des Château Cos d'Estournel. Die Reben sind durchschnittlich 40 Jahre alt, es gibt aber auch Parzellen mit über 100 Jahre alten Reben. Diese werden ebenfalls in den Zweitwein integriert und verleihen ihm den typischen, üppigen und opulenten Charakter eines Cos d'Estournel. PRESSE 93-94 Punkte James Suckling The polished and creamy texture here is extremely attractive, with blueberry, blackcurrant and crushed-stone aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied with linear tannins, showing polish and finesse. Creamy mouth-feel. Second wine of Cos. 12.9% alcohol. 51% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot, 2% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. 91-93 Punkte Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (William Kelley) The 2023 Les Pagodes de Cos has turned out beautifully, offering up aromas of cassis, orange zest, vine smoke and incense, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and polished palate with a deep core of fruit, supple tannins and a lively, mouthwatering finish. It's a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Cos d'Estournel may neighbor Lafite-Rothschild, but its vineyards are very different, rising from the banks of the Jalle de Breuil—the small stream that divides Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe—to a height of fully 26 meters above sea level. Cos's clay-gravel vineyards occupy the plateau on top, as well as straddling the slopes, scrolling round the hillside from the east-facing holdings overlooking Lafite to fully south-facing holdings that look out over the Gironde. It's surely this variety of expositions—as well as an average vine age of 55 years—that lend the wine its completeness, power and plenitude. Soil studies, undertaken in 2003, inform parcel-by-parcel farming and winemaking, as well as replanting, where Cos's important percentage of Merlot is gradually tending to diminish. The last two decades have witnessed considerable evolution: herbicides were banished, and experimentation with cover crops began in 2002, a new gravity-flow winery was built in 2008, and winemaking and picking dates have evolved. In the past, the wines sometimes flirted with extremes, but in pushing the boundaries, sometimes one exceeds them. Recent vintages have flitted between the more elegant profiles of 2016 (one of the most accomplished wines from this address in recent years), 2017 and 2019, to the chunkier, punchier style of 2020 and 2022. With the 2023 vintage, the team appears to have found their feet very assuredly: with four seeds per berry and tannins that weren't as ripe as in 2022, technical director Dominique Arangoïts took a prudent approach to extraction, with very little crushing, full use of Cos's gravity-flow winery and macerations that were both considerably cooler and somewhat shorter than had been the norm. The result is a very classy, unforced Cos, checking in at only 12.9% alcohol, that renders the power of which this terroir is inherently capable with new sensuality and refinement. 90-92 Punkte Vinous (Neal Martin) The 2023 Les Pagodes de Cos, representing 47% of the volume of the château, has a plush crushed strawberry, cassis and violet-scented bouquet that displays some prudent use of oak. The palate is svelte and silky in texture and harmonious, with a judicious pinch of white pepper and graphite. A nicely poised, persistent finish wraps things up in style. This is a classy Les Pagodes that should give 12 to 15 years of drinking pleasure.