Appellations

Cos d'Estournel 2021

St Estephe, Second Growth

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Tasting Notes

Lovely stuff, elegant and sculpted, great quality, showcasing the successful side of a cool vintage. There is some austerity, as you would expect, with chewy tannins holding blueberry and black cherry fruits, well balanced with grilled cinnamon and sandalwood smoke. 55% new oak. Among the wines of the vintage.

Score: 95 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2028-2041 Date: 02 April 2024

The 2021 Cos d’Estournel marries power with finesse. It has all the intensity that is typical of the wines here, but also a real sense of precision. Dark-toned fruit, licorice, leather, spice, tobacco and incense all unfold in a rich, heady wine with bitter, astringent tannins. The 2021 is hard to taste today, as it is decidedly quiet and understated.

Score: 93 Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2031-2051 Date: 27 February 2024

The 2021 Cos d'Estournel has retained a Cabernet Sauvignon-driven nose, with pencil shaving scents infusing the black fruit, and a touch of dark chocolate and loam coming through with aeration. It is well-defined and composed, though it doesn't have the complexity of some of the great recent vintages from the estate. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins on the entry. Showing modest depth, it’s quite sapid, with a touch of brininess to the fruit. This is not a flamboyant Cos d'Estournel, but it is very well composed and lingers temptingly on the finish. Give this five to seven years in bottle.

Score: 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2029-2050 Date: 22 February 2024

Dark and reticent with a touch of cassis as the wine opens. Linear and firm with a rich but fine tannic frame. Solid through the mid palate and on through the finish. Structured and with plenty of matière. Well within itself so room to develop.

Score: 17 James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2030-2050 Date: 11 May 2022

A firm red with solid, compact tannins. Medium to full body with plenty of blackcurrant, pencil-lead and graphite character. Compact and structured throughout, with a firm finish. Linear and muscular tannins at the end that are very formed and curated. It will be interesting to see how this one evolves. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.

Score: 94 - 95 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Date: 01 May 2022

The 2021 Cos d'Estournel is very promising, offering up rich aromas of dark berries, plums, exotic spices, loamy soil and rose petals, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless palate that's impressively vibrant and concentrated, with powdery tannins, bright acids and a long, penetrating finish. Only 53% of the production made it into the grand vin, and the blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Technical director Dominique Arangoïts reports that Cos was spared by frost and coulure at flowering, harvesting between September 23 and October 4, and fermenting a touch hotter than has been the case in recent years, at around 28-29 degrees Celsius.

Score: 94 - 95 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Date: 29 April 2022

The Grand Vin 2021 Château Cos D'Estournel is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot that saw 55% new French oak. It offers a beautiful, elegant, medium-bodied style that carries plenty of pure cassis and almost blue fruits as well as graphite, spicy wood, and hints of tobacco. The tannins are polished, and it has terrific balance, good density, and outstanding length. It's certainly in the more focused, elegant, narrow style of the vintage, but it's beautiful.

Score: 92 - 94 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Date: 06 February 2022