Château Cos-d'Estournel Saint-Estèphe AOP, 2ème Cru Classé

Château Cos d'Estournel zeugt mit seiner fernöstlich inspirierten Architektur von den Anfängen unter Gründer Louis-Gaspard Estournel, der seine Weine einst bis nach Indien verkaufte. Beständig untermauert das als 2ème Grand Cru Classé eingestufte Weingut aus Pauillac seine Extraklasse. Der Grand Vin sorgt für ein geradezu hedonistisches Vergnügen, ein hoher Merlot-Anteil macht ihn besonders vollmundig. PRESSE 98-99 Punkte James Suckling The finesse is pretty phenomenal here, with such complexity of fruit and vivid, bright flowers. Lavender and rose. Seductive. Ever-so long and precise. Lead pencil and graphite. Reminiscent of old, great Cos, such as 1955 or 1982, but with so much more form and modernity. A renaissance of Cos. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 1% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. 95-96 Punkte Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (William Kelley) A contemporary classic in the making, the 2023 Cos d'Estournel has turned out beautifully, reflecting a lighter touch with extraction that has delivered more sensuality and harmony without the loss of any of the estate's signature power and authority. Wafting from the glass with deep aromas of cassis, wild berries, orange zest and exotic spices, framed by well-integrated new wood, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, beautifully suave tannins and a cool, seamless profile. It's a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that attained 12.9% alcohol and is being matured in 50% new oak. 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. 95 Punkte Falstaff (Peter Moser) Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Feine Gewürznuancen, ein Hauch von Cassis und dunklen Waldbeeren, Anklänge von Nelken und Kardamom. Saftig, gute Komplexität, rote Herzkirschen im Kern, integrierte Tannine, mineralisch, bleibt haften, zeigt einige Frische, etwas Nugat im Nachhall, bereits entwickelt und zugänglich. 94-96 Punkte Vinous (Neal Martin) The 2023 Cos d'Estournel, picked from September 12 to 29 and matured in 50% new oak, blossoms in the glass. The aromatics deliver nearly immediate gratification: black cherries, wild strawberries, crushed violet petals and vanilla pod. It’s all quite sumptuous but very well focused. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled, slightly powdery tannins. It’s beautifully balanced with a very pure and seductive finish. This is a notably composed and assured Cos d'Estournel, almost a lesson in how less can be more. It’s only a couple of steps behind the previous vintage.