Chateau Cos Labory

Chateau Cos Labory is located just to the left of Cos d’Estournel, on the boundary between St-Estephe and Pauillac, with the two having some shared history. This estate is one of the five classed growths in the 1855 classification in St-Estephe, a fifth growth in the ranking.

Similar to Cos d’Estournel, the name Cos for this chateau is referring to the stony slope where the estate is located. The domaine was first appeared in the history books as Cos-Gaston, named after Pierre Gaston’s family, who got vineyards and had been producing wines for sales.

When the estate was passed on to his heirs eventually it came to the Labory family through marriage, with Pierre’s grand-daughter Mary-Sany Gaston marrying to Francois-Armand Labory. During that time it was already a large producer of wine in the Medoc area.

Her children later inherited the estate but there was dispute on the ownership and subsequently allowing Louis Gaspard d’Estournel to purchase the property in 1847, absorbing into Cos d’Estournel, and providing the best vineyards to the latter. In 1852 because of financial difficulty and ill-health, Louis Gaspard d’Estournel decided to sell both properties to Charles Cecil Martyns, a London banker.

Martyns sold Cos Labory in 1860 to Francois Marie Peychaud, which later changed a few hands again, eventually to Ambrosio and Augusto Weber, who still own the property by their descendants today. The Weber family were of American heritage but living in Argentina, and a cousin George Weber came to settle in the estate, marrying Marie-Alberte Loysel, and having a daughter named Cecile.

During WWII the estate was managed by Pierre Ginestet when the family had to flee to the US, and then Cecile went back, buying the whole property from the Weber cousins in 1959. Her son Bernard Audoy now runs the property, overseeing the construction of the new fermentation facilities in 1990s and the new barrel cellar.

Currently it covers 18 ha, with average vine age of 35 years, with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, with a very small area planted with Petit Verdot. The soil is a mix of gravel and clay over limestone, with gravel predominating on the hill where the Cabernets are planted, and the cooler clay planted with Merlot.

Bernard practiced the philosophy of reasoned viticulture, allowing the use of chemical treatments where necessary, thus not following any organic or biodynamics. Much of the harvesting is actually mechanical, which is a major difference from other peers, but in recent years there is a move away from that.

The fruit is then sorted on tables and then destemmed, crushed and delivered to the stainless steel fermentation vats with temperature control. Prior to fermentation there is a short cold maceration with cultured yeast and remuage. The must will then stay in the vats for up to four weeks, and then run off into secondary vats for malolactic fermentation.

The wines then go into barrels, with 50% new oak for the grand vin, before assemblage in the following spring, with the blended wine going into barrel for another year, with racking. Before bottling there is fining and a light filtration. The grand vin is Chateau Cos Labory, with 7500 cases production, and the second wine is named Charme de Cos Labory of about 3300 cases.

I have recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance: Bright and clear, it is of deep intensity ruby color, with legs.

Nose: Clean, with medium (-) intensity aromas showing black fruit of blackberry and dark plum, pungent spice of liquorice, oak notes of cedar, MLF notes of cream, hints of maturity notes of wet leaves. The wine is youthful.

Palate: Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium tannin of ripe and velvety texture. Medium in alcohol and having medium body, it has medium (-) intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry and dark plum, pungent spice of liquorice, MLF notes of cream, some sweet spice of ginger. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion: Good quality St-Estephe however the nose is quite weak and closed up despite opening it for more than two hours, albeit of reasonable complexity. The palate is fairly light as well but still the finish is of acceptable range. Ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 5-8 years.