Chateau Cos d'Estournel

Chateau Cos d’Estournel is a second growth in the 1855 classification, the top wine within the St-Estephe commune. Cos is derived from caux, a word referring to the stony slope. The history began when Louis Gaspard d’Estournel inherited the family estate in 1791, and dedicated to develop a chateau to produce good quality wine.

During that time St-Estephe was not well developed as a vine-growing commune, where the focus was more on the south, in Pauillac, St-Julien and Margaux. Louis however had an unerring focus to develop his estate, but also had his difficulties along the way, with his creditors withdrawing the support in 1811, forcing him to sell to Jean-Louis de Lapeyriere, before buying it back after ten years.

Louis Gaspard had remained in the estate throughout the years even though not owning it, so he had a good idea of how to develop it after regaining control. He later added numerous plots and also purchased Cos Labory in the process, taking up the best plots from the latter and absorbing it into Cos d’Estournel.

With the quality continued to improve, Louis Gaspard started to renovate the cellars and reflecting his travels in the Orient, building pagodas like a Chinese temple. The doorway which had decorations of vines and grapes, were sent over from the Palace of Zanzibar. He also constructed a arch similar to that of Leoville-Las-Cases.

There was once a case of wine he exported to India but was later returned, and Louis always proudly boosted to his guests about the robust nature of the wine after the hot, lengthy journey. The wine had been well received by the royal families in England, Russia and France, as well as other famous people.

But in 1852 Louis Gaspard was once again in financial difficulties and had to sell his estate, and died one year later, which was two years before the estate got its second growth status in the 1855 classification. The new owner Charles Cecil Martyn did not live in the estate, but appointed Jerome Chiapella, the proprietor of La Mission Haut-Brion, to look after the vineyards and wine.

In 1860 Charles sold Cos Labory and in 1869 Cos d’Estournel, to Errazu family, who then sold it to the Hostein brothers who also owned Chateau Montrose. In 1894 it was passed to Louis Victor Charmolue, who had married into the Hostein family.

In 1917 it was acquired by Fernand Ginestet, subsequently passing to his daughter Arlette, who was married to the Prats family. Her son Bruno and later grandson Jean-Guillaume Prats continued to run the estate, until 1998 when it was sold to the Merlaut family, the owners of the Taillan Group.

By 2000 it changed to the current owner Michel Reybier, who brought about a massive restoration of the estate, but he asked Jean-Guillaume Prats to stay on as manager of the property. Jean-Guillaume Prats left Cos d’Estournel in 2013, replaced by Aymeric de Gironde.

The soil is the typical gravel which peppers the left bank of the Gironde. There are 70 ha of vineyards divided into 30 parcels, with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The Cabernet Sauvignon is concentrated on the west of the vineyards with more well-drained gravel slopes, while the Merlot is planted on the eastern edge where there are limestone bedrocks beneath the gravels.

The estate is located at the southernmost of St-Estephe, just a few minutes from Lafite-Rothschild. The planting density is 8000-10000 vines per ha, with an average age of 35 years. Only those more than 20 years will be used to make the grand vin, with the rest going to the second wine Les Pagodes de Cos.

Manually harvest, the grapes are fermented in concrete vats for the grand vin, stainless steel vats with temperature control for the second wine. The malolactic fermentation happens in new barrels of 60% to 100%, depending on the vintage. Total production is around 200000 bottles for the grand vin, and 130000 bottles for the second wine, with also a white under the same label starting from the 2005 vintage.

I have recently tasted the 2004 vintage of the grand vin and the 2006 vintage of the second wine. Below are my tasting notes:

Very good quality St-Estephe of medium ruby color, the wine has a fairly intense nose, showing good complexity of youthful aromas of black cherry and blackcurrant, liquorice, cream, cedar, graphite, stem, mocha. It is still very young on the nose. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and silky, the fairly full-bodied wine has a good concentration on palate, with blackcurrant and dark plum, stem, liquorice and cedar notes. The finish is fairly long. Overall a very nice wine but personally it lacks the unique something to make it special. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 6-8 years.

Good quality St-Estephe of medium ruby color with garnet rims, the wine has a fairly concentrated nose, showing developing and quite complex characters of blackberry and blackcurrant, liquorice, stem, toast, chocolate, pencil lead and savory. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and velvety, the wine is fairly full-bodied with good intensity on the palate, showing flavors of blackcurrant, dark plum and blackberry, chocolate, liquorice, cedar and leather. With a fairly long finish, it is ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.