Château Cos d'Estournel 2018

The 2018 Cos d'Estournel is composed of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc and has 14.59% alcohol. Aging in 50% new barriques, it has a deep purple-black color and drifts effortlessly, gracefully, seductively out of the glass with slowly unfurling notions of blackcurrant cordial, wild blueberries, chocolate-covered cherries and plum pudding with touches of violets, licorice, wild roses and yeast extract plus a waft of loose tobacco. The full-bodied palate is built like a brick house with a solid frame of super firm, super ripe tannins and seamless freshness to back up the vibrant, crunchy, oh-so-muscular fruit, finishing long with loads of mineral layers. Amazing structure will keep this beauty for at least half a century and probably a full one!

The beautiful integration of ripe fruit and ripe tannins gives the wine a layered and agile mouthfeel. Soft and gorgeous with silky tannins that really kick in at the finish and carry the wine for a long time.

(74 Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 Merlot, 2 Cabernet Franc, 1 Petit Verdot) | 50% new oak | 14.59% alc | 30 hl/ha | 3.69 pH | 66% of total production | 80 IPT I tasted the wines with owner Michel Reybier and winemaker Dominique Arangoïts and they were peculiarly quiet as I worked my way through the glasses. This only ever happens when those concerned are extremely pleased with their wines but don’t want to show it. How right they were, albeit without giving anything away! The entire suite of wines from this estate is impeccable, but the Grand Vin is a staggering tour de force. From the incredible volume of fruit on the nose to the exquisite detail on the palate, this is an awesomely balanced wine. It has everything. The fruit is sensationally seductive and its depth is profound. The mouth-watering mid-palate is truly epic and there is freshness and bounce from the first sip to the final flavour memory and this balance is enchanting. This is a spectacular vintage for Cos and everything you could possibly want in a wine is here but, crucially, there is not too much of any one element. So often, larger framed wines can tip out of balance and deliver too much of a good thing. Cos remains masterful, expansive and also precision-tooled in its detail. This is the finest young wine I have tasted at this Château and I have no hesitation in giving it a perfect score. While many foundered, this imposing estate, sitting on its majestic plot of land took the best elements from the complex and baffling season and used them to its advantage. It is true that wineries used to making richer styles of wine are the most successful, in my eyes, in 2018. Cos d’Estournel is one such property and it has made a wine which will taste incredible every day of its life and, inevitably, many of these days will be long after I have departed this world.