2008 Cos d'Estournel, St Estèphe, Bordeaux
- Red
- Dry
- Full Bodied
Ready - at best
- Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW
- 95/100
- 18.5/20
- Jancis Robinson MW
- 18/20
- Robert Parker
- 92+/100
Product: 20088004367
Description
Cos d’Estournel’s multimillion Euro renovation project (as seen on Wine: The Firm) has turned its winery into a futuristic sight incredible to behold. Gravity flow is now all-important to ensure that the wine is moved around in the gentlest way possible. The 2008 is the first vintage to be made in the new winery and fortunately for investors in Cos’s grand project, we think you can taste the difference. This was by far the finest wine we tasted in St Estèphe. The majority of wines from this cooler commune were austere and lacking the ripe fruit found elsewhere in Bordeaux in 2008. This however has dark, brooding fruit yet is elegant and fine with lovely minerality and savoury complexity. It may need a while but this should be very impressive indeed in fifteen years’ time.
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2008
Maturity Ready - at best
Body Full Bodied
Producer Cos d'Estournel
Critics reviews
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW 95/100
The medium to deep garnet colored 2008 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Pow! The nose explodes with notes of baked cherries, preserved plums, fried herbs, beef drippings and warm cassis with wafts of wood smoke, salami and tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and earthy/savory in character, sporting beautifully ripe, grainy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note.Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 30/11/2018
18.5/20
Black-purple-red, deeply concentrated blackcurrant fruit, full, plummy, slightly smoky, even exotic with superb internal (mostly Cabernet) ripeness, vibrant and virgourous, very good length.
Jancis Robinson MW 18/20
Extremely deep purplish crimson...Dense terroir expression dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. Then some spice and much less brutal than some earlier vintages. Not as concentrated as Latour but (slightly) more energetic than Lafite. Great balance and very fine tannins. Some old hands will object that this is a little ‘lighter’ than, say, 2005 – but I think it’s very well judged. Not a trace of unripeness of fruit or tannin. And some real personality jumps out. Should have an unusually long drinking window. Very ,very clean. Fine and neat. Livelier than many other vintages jancis_robinson_mw MW - JancisRobinson.com - Apr 09
Robert Parker 92+/100
Closed but promising, this is a classic Cos revealing lots of tannin along with damp earth, black currant, sweet black cherry, graphite, licorice and truffle characteristics. This medium to full-bodied, structured, firm, broodingly backward, impenetrable effort demands 5-6 years of bottle age; it should drink well for 20-25 years. robert_parker - Wine Advocate - May 2011 The inky/purple-hued 2008 Cos reveals exceptionally precise, fresh aromas of black fruits, crushed rocks, licorice, flowers, and subtle smoke. Dense and high in tannin, the extraordinary richness of polyphenols has given the wine power, substance, and depth, but the sweetness of the tannin and the seemingly low acidity...has given the wine a precision and elegance that is remarkable. ...This wine should gain weight, richness, and a few Parker points by the time it is bottled. It is even denser and richer than the 1996...It should evolve for 30-35 years. robert_parker - Wine Advocate - Apr 2009
About this wine
Cos d'Estournel
Château Cos d`Estournel is named after its 19th century owner, Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel, and it was he who built the bizarre oriental edifice that is a landmark for any tourist in the Médoc. Today Cos d'Estournel is without doubt the leading estate in St-Estéphe. It is located in the south of the appellation on the border with Pauillac and its vineyards are superbly sited on a south-facing gravel ridge with a high clay content, just north of Lafite.
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Saint-Estèphe
Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the most important communes of the Médoc, bordering Pauillac on its southernmost border, with only a gully and stream separating it from Ch. Lafite Rothschild. The wines can appear austere in youth, but the best typically display good depth of colour, pronounced acidity and tannins in youth, and are exceptionally long-lived. At their best, they are the equal of almost any Bordeaux.
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