Majestic, intense, full-bodied and tannic, Cos d’Estournel is considered the leading wine of St Estèphe. Highly tannic in its youth, over time it develops much much like the great wines of adjoining Pauillac.
Cos d’Estournel is considered the leading wine of St Estèphe.
The wine is typically a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, consistently displaying immense power and evident breed.
74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot Deep crimson. Intense dark plum cassis praline aromas with liquorice. Deep set dark plum, black currant pastille, fresh long dense gravelly tannins. Finishes chalky firm. Massive volume, viscosity and plenty of richness and underlying savoury oak. This is spectacularly good this year. 14.5%
97 points, Andrew Caillard MW.
Saint -Estèphe, with 1,377 hectares under vine is the largest of the major Bordeaux appellations in the Medoc. Located in the most northern part of the Left Bank, on average, 585,000 cases of wine are produced each year. The soils see a rich mixture of rocks, clay, limestone and gravel that rests on the surface and of course below, deep in the terroir. Beneath the surface lies a complex blend of different soils, sub soils and terroir. Over the past several decades, the general trend in the Saint -Estèphe vineyards has been to add more Merlot, which has added a lot of softness to the tannins and the wines. Merlot works well in the appellation due to the large amount of clay found in the soils. in the appellation due to the large amount of clay found in the soils.
