2012 Cos d'Estournel, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

The 2012 Cos d'Estournel is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It has a deep garnet-purple color and reveals expressive black cherries, black raspberries and red and black plums scents with subtler notes of cassis, menthol, pencil lead and cigar box plus a touch of lavender. Medium-bodied and elegantly styled, with a rock-solid frame of chewy tannins, it delivers a lively lift on the long finish. This is a lovely wine with slightly chewier tannins and less stuffing than the 2011. Needs 4-5 years.Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 30/11/2018

Very dark and purple. Very interesting, almost putty nose. Intriguing and not so flamboyant and flashy as in some years. Really rather like Lafite 2012 on the nose! Perhaps a little tiny bit bitter on the finish but no excess of sweetness nor alcohol. Very measured. Solid impact. Very dry finish. I absolutely love the nose but find it a bit austere on the finish but at least it is classic St-Estphe. Slightly hard work at this stage; the most youthful wine I have tasted so far. '100% gravity-fed cellar helped us to be restrained in extraction', explained the new director Aymeric de Gironde.jancis_robinson_mw MW, JancisRobinson.com, 25 Apr 2013

Superb colour, big black fruits, has the opulent smoothness of Cos with freshness and very classy length.

It has a saturated purple color, a classic style, abundant tannin, slight austerity, superb concentration, huge fruit, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and a structured, muscular, well-delineated finish. This impressive, full-bodied Cos will need time to round into shape. Give it 4-5 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades. Proprietor Michel Reybier has produced an outstanding 2012 Cos d’Estournel from a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. With a pH of 3.75 and alcohol level of 13.8% this is a ripe wine with the same tannin levels (IPH) as the 2009. The second wine, the 2012 Les Pagodes de Cos, represents 50% of the production. robert_parker - Wine Advocate - Apr 2013