"The 2025 Cos d'Estournel is shaping up to be one of the wines of the vintage. Grand, dramatic and sweeping...magnificent balance. A masterpiece. 2035-2075. 96-99 points" Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com
Released today for sale en primeur, 2025 Château Cos d'Estournel is offered at £510 per six bottles, the same as the release price for the 2024 vintage, despite potential 99-point scores from Galloni and Suckling, and general acknowledgement from the critics that this is one of the greatest wines this estate has produced.
We tasted the '25 at the châteaux last month and found it captured the essence of the vintage, with superb purity of fruit wrapped up in a very restrained, classical structure. As William Kelley says in his notes, "All of this terroir's inherent power is present, contained within very classical proportions at 13.3% alcohol". As we have said of other 2025s, there is a real joy to be had in tasting wines that capture the austerity and fine aromas like pencil shavings we associate with vintages of two or three decades ago, combined with modern fruit purity and intensity.
Alongside the grand vin, we offer Pagodes de Cos, the second label of the château, which is outstanding this year. At just £162 per six, it has much of the refinement of the grand vin, but with masses of easy, approachable Merlot fruit character. Galloni calls it "a huge, somber wine....a gorgeous Pagodes (92-94 points). At just £27 per bottle in bond, this is what second wines from great estates are all about, offering some of the magic of the château, but at a price that makes it possible to drink and enjoy it any day of the week.
Please e-mail us to add these wines to your cellar.
Offered en primeur, landing spring 2028.
Magnums available with £25 ex-VAT bottling surcharge per six, please enquire re other formats.
Producer Profile
Château Cos d'Estournel
Château Cos d'Estournel is a Deuxième Cru Classé in St-Estèphe, established in 1811 by Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, who also gave the estate its name. 'Cos' is a local dialect term for 'hill of pebbles'. D’Estournel kept his wines outside of the negociant system, with the result that they found a wider range of customers around the world than some comparable estates.
The wine was exported to India, leading to the East Indian design influence at the château, with its famous elephants which are so visible from the road as you approach. Cos was also one of the first estates to bottle and label their wines at the château. The 100-hectare estate is planted with a slightly higher proportion of Merlot than the norm for this commune, contributing to the rich mouthfeel and texture which is a hallmark of Cos.
In the early 1970s Cos came under the ownership of the Ginestet and Prats families and was run by them for many years, first by Bruno Prats and then his son Guillaume. Since 2000, Cos has been owned by entrepreneur Michel Reybier.
Pagodes de Cos might be called the 'second wine' but perhaps a 'second label' is a more accurate term. The wine is in fact from a separate plot of vines, averaging forty years of age. The name comes from the distinctive pagoda-like oriental towers at the château. 'Le G d'Estournel' is a third label, known until 2020 as Goulée du Ch. d’Estournel, which comes from a separate vineyard in the Médoc. Reybier acquired the vineyard in the early 2000s having identified the potential of the terroir.
The recent purchase of adjacent Cos Labory is likely to see this underperforming estate leap up in quality in the coming vintages.
| RED | 2025 | Château Cos d'Estournel | 75cl | £510 per case of 6 | Château Cos d'Estournel 2025 / / 75cl £510 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"The 2025 Cos d'Estournel was picked between September 3 and 19 and matured in 50% new oak, the analytic alcohol at 13.25%. There is just a touch of CO2 on the nose that soon dissipates, gorgeous black plum and damson aromas, pencil lead and light iodine scents all delivered with impressive delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a hint of cracked black pepper and pencil lead that infuse the layered black fruit. There is a real crescendo of flavours in this Cos d'Estournel, fanning out gloriously towards the sustained finish. This is a serious Saint-Estèphe that will age supremely well in bottle. Drinking Window 2032 - 2060. 95-97 points" Neal Martin, Vinous.com------"Incense and sandalwood aromatics, combines the density and concentration of a hot vintage with the freshness and balanced alcohols of a cooler vintage, meaning both weight and lightness of touch (this is something you will hear a lot with the 2025 vintage but rarely find in reality). A real breadth and wide spectrum of possibilities are contained here, a little austere right now but these dark berry fruits and firm tannins are waiting to bloom with ageing. 3.68pH. 50% new oak. Harvest was September 3, earliest since the Reybier era (they began September 7 on 2022, and also in 1989) through to September 19. Last year in organic conversion. 2036-2055. 97 points" janeanson.com------"The 2025 Cos d'Estournel appears to be one of the finest wines this property has produced in the last decade. Unwinding in the glass with a deep bouquet of dark berry fruit mingled with violets, pencil shavings, burning embers and anise, it's full-bodied, ample and velvety, with a broad attack, layered mid-palate and beautifully fresh, concentrated flavors. All of this terroir's inherent power is present, contained within very classical proportions at 13.3% alcohol. The 2025 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. 96-98 points" William Kelley, RobertParker.com------"The 2025 Cos d'Estournel is shaping up to be one of the wines of the vintage. Grand, dramatic and sweeping, with notable textural intensity, the 2025 hits all the right notes. Even in the very early going, the 2025 is magical. Dark red/purplish fruit, spice, new leather, tobacco, lavender and mocha build effortlessly in the glass. More than anything else, I am blown away by the wine's magnificent balance. A masterpiece. 2035-2075. 96-99 points" Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com------"A density to this, yet it remains balanced and complex, with well-integrated tannins and a juicy finish. It seems to be a wine with lots of fruit, but then it diffuses and shows open-grained, velvety tannins. Intense yet subtle blackberries, lead pencil and hazelnuts. Some flint. Persistent and reserved at the end. Great potential. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon, 39% merlot and 1% petit verdot. 98-99 points" jamessuckling.com |
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