Ed Chin

9.1

My first whiff I thought another rich cloying white. Bloody hell did this have an acid kick and a nice fine texture. Not real complex but a nice porch pounder. — 4 months ago

Lars Miller

9.6

Gorgeous number with ripe peach and pineapple. Full mouth feel with zippy finish. Lush and tropical. Lovely this! — 4 years ago

Philipp Streibel

9.0

Sehr lecker mit intensiven Pfirsich Aromen. — 5 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.2

If I remember right the solera used has wine much older than 15 yrs. thinking back this has a saline knife in its taste that could either taste hot or like a fine whiskey depending on your palate. New label btw. — 6 years ago

with Owen

Ellen Clifford

9.1

Oh damn. Well. The Gascon workaday bev Malbec is good but this is...deeper and has balance if not nuance. The art film that is arresting despite depth.
So. That.
The thing is I didn’t expect it to knock out the basic Gascon but damnnnn the ripe plus the ripe plus superb levels that are not...see/breathe/chemical through. Very pretty to look at and there’s more than meets the eye. — 8 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.2

Drank over 3 weeks or so. My one critique is the saltiness can feel out of balance at times but still a multilayered source of delight — 9 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.2

Flavors of roasted hazelnuts and almonds. Savory hint of salty peaches. Smell of Pound cake on the nose. Creamy texture. Dry and complex. 21.5% alcohol but did not seem "hot." Paired beautifully with Jamon Iberico! Outstanding!! — 9 years ago

with Kasey

Winton Sweum

9.5

Light gold; open nose highlighting white flowers; surprisingly, almost delicate, flowery palate with plenty of spice and orchard fruit and mineral. Grew larger with time. Enjoyed at Club Gascon, London. — 2 years ago

Lea G

8.9

Great Malbec! Hints of black cherry deliciousness. — 4 years ago

Ethan Clark

9.3

A worthy addition to the Alamos/Gascon family of best malbecs on the market! — 5 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.8

Wine of the night for us. Goosebumps. Extraordinary depth and presence. Vital, powerful. As these sherries age, they seem to grow in complexity without any of the effects of old age—no softening or weakness. Brillant wine tasted in the bodega cellar. A memorable experience. — 7 years ago

with Alsu

Alton Komori

8.9

Lighter bouquet, body and finish. — 8 years ago

Mo Mimnaugh

9.0

Perfect with steak. Enjoyed with Lili, Abdel and Chris. Bought a bottle to take home. — 8 years ago

Jim Miller

9.0

A solid, easy-drinking Malbec. I've enjoyed many a bottle of Gascon with and without food. Extra smooth. — 9 years ago

Roberto Lartigue

9.1

Juicy, refreshing, friendly — 10 years ago

with Carlos

Eve charest

9.3

Très bon mélangé avec la cuvée du Pèlerin! Goût sucré de jus de raisin — 3 years ago

Nikki Goddard, DWS

9.4

Translucent pomegranate seed hue moving to garnet at the core and then water-white at the rim. Bright and lively on the nose, with lots of juicy, crunchy red fruit—unripe strawberry, tart raspberry, fresh cranberry, candied morello cherry, savory and herbal accents of red licorice, black tea, fennel, nutmeg, and sage. The palate is deceptively fruity at first—light and fresh, like a fun, tasty glou-glou wine—but gets wayyy more complex through the finish, evolving to subtly oxidative notes from extended barrel aging of hazelnut skin, dried cranberry, stewed rhubarb, kirsch, and cherry liqueur. Reminds me in a way of a dry version of a red VDN like Maury or Banyuls. Absolutely delicious, and unique; unlike anything I’ve tasted before. What I love most is the journey it goes on in each individual sip—the finish is wildly different from the attack. — 4 years ago

with Emmett

Fernando Figueroa Sánchez

9.3

Chingonería de vino. De lo mejor, pinche casa cabrona del vital líquido. Voy de una vez por otra botella porque la verdad 20 dólares por un vino de esta calidad es un regalo 🍷 — 6 years ago

P S

10

This is 100% gascon! And 100% pure love. Amazing. — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

Is there anything better than Ribeye & Claret? From my perspective, no. This is the second wine from one of more prestigious Chateaus in St. Estephe. Bordeaux rule number 2, buy the hell out of good producers second wines in very good vintages, like 2005. You’ll get great wines at more affordable prices. Providing, you exercise patience; which is rule number 1. Decanted for 3 plus hours. On the nose, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, black plum & cherries pull up the rear. Incense, herbaceous character, anise, scorched dark earth, burnt ambers, anise, baking spices dominated by vanilla, black tea, black cherry cola, loamy dry soils, dry & fresh red florals with violets for days. It’s in a great phase with many years ahead. The body is full and round. The texture has you wanting more. It’s velvety and ripe. Tannins soft and powdery, around 65-70 resolved. The fruits are ripe & ruby...showing the excellence of the 05 vintage. Blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, black plum & cherries pull up the rear. Incense, herbaceous character, anise, scorched dark earth, dry stones, leather, cigar with ash, burnt ambers, anise, baking spices dominated by vanilla, black tea, black cherry cola, loamy dry soils, dry & fresh red florals with violets for days. The acidity is dead on. The length, structure, length & balance is harmonizing like America on the album, “ Horse with No Name.” The long finish is; ruby, rich, elegant, round, beautiful and lasts a minute plus. Beautiful wine. 9.4 with the steak. 9.2 on its own. Photos of; Chateau Cos d’ Estournel, hosting/tasting area, private wine stock and barrel cellar. Producer notes and history...Chateau Cos d’Estournel has a long history in the appellation of St. Estephe. Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, gave his name to the estate after founding it in 1811. It only took a few years before Chateau Cos d’Estournel became famous with wine lovers and royalty all over the world. In the early days, the wines of Cos d’Estournel were not sold through the Negociant system. The owner preferred selling his wine directly to his customers. In fact, Chateau Cos d’Estournel was exported to numerous countries across the globe, with a large portion of the production being sold to India. It was that connection to India that inspired much of the unique, east Indian design we see at Cos d’Estournel today. Chateau Cos d’Estournel was one of the first Chateaus to bottle, label and sell their own wine. This practice continued until the death of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel in 1852. After his death, the estate was purchased by an owner that sold their wines on the Place de Bordeaux, using the negociant system. If the Chateau had not been selling their wines through the negociant system, it would never have been included in the 1855 Classification! Chateau Cos d’Estournel was sold to the Charmolue family, the owners of the neighboring Chateau Montrose. They continued to own the estate until 1917, when it was bought by Fernand Ginestet. The purchase was the next major step in the development of Cos d’Estournel. The next era in the development of Chateau Cos d’Estournel took place in 2000, when Chateau Cos d’Estournel was bought by Michel Reybier, who made his fortune in the food industry. Michel Reybier hired the son of Bruno Prats, Jean-Guillaume Prats to manage Cos d’Estournel. Things improved with the efforts of Jean-Guillaume Prats who helped design the most modern wine making facilities in the entire Bordeaux wine making appellation at the time. A complete renovation of Cos d’Estournel took place in the winemaking facilities and cellars. The wine making facilities are completely modern, using 100% gravity. On October 15, 2012, Jean Guillaume Prats announced he was leaving Chateau Cos d’Estournel to join LVMH. Jean Guillaume Prats was replaced by Aymeric de Gironde. Following the departure of Aymeric de Gironde in 2017, the owner, Michel Reybier took over managing the estate. In 2018, the estate released COS100, produced from their oldest Merlot vines that were 100 years of age. It was limited in production to a 100 Jeroboams, (3 litres) and 10 Balthazars (12 litres) and a few other sizes were produced from only 2 barrels of wine. The proceeds from COS100 go to the charity, Elephant Family, that is devoted to protecting and nurturing Asian elephants in their own, natural habitat. Cos d’Estournel’s new cellar is a joint reflection by the technical team, the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and Jean Guillaume Prats. It’s a marvel blend of simplicity and modern technology. Cos d’Estournel is unique to Bordeaux and the rest of world. What makes this special is that the cellars of Cos d’Estournel are entirely operated by gravity. There are no pumps of any kind to force the wine. The purpose is to allow a gentleness to the wine and improve its purity allowing for expression of their special terroir. It set a new benchmark for cellars not only in the Left Bank, but in all of Bordeaux. The new cellars at Chateau Cos d’Estournel include 72 isothermal cone shaped stainless steel vats. The vats are specifically designed for thermal inertia. The 72 vats have a wide range of capacities to correspond with the needs of each parcel of vines. The vats range in size from as small as 19 hectoliters all the way up to 115 hectolitres. 12 of the smaller vats that are designed to handle between 19 and 60 hectoliters that have two levels in each vat. In other words, this offers the technical equivalent of 24 separate vats. Each of the vats are double lined, which allows for more exact and temperature control. None of the vats use interior heat coils. Perhaps the most inventive part of the cellars is the four 100 hectoliter lift tanks or wine elevators that replace the pumps used in the traditional pumping over and racking off processes, which introduce air and often destabilize the marc. From the moment the grapes arrive, everything travels by the flow of gravity. Jean Guillaume Prats called this process a pumpless, pump over. What takes place is, the wine is released from the main vat where the skins remain. By gravity, the juice is then moved into smaller vats which are on wheels. These small vats are sent to the glass elevators where they are moved up one floor and returned back into the vat by gravity to cover the skins. At this point, the process is still unique to Chateau Cos d’Estournel. The wine production of Cos d’Estournel is labor intensive starting the moment the grapes enter their new facility. The berries travel through a tunnel that instantly lowers the temperature of the fruit to 3-5 degrees Celsius. This sudden chilling stops the loss of juice while also slowing oxidation. Next, the grapes are cold macerated at 7-9 degrees Celsius for about a week. Pump overs are done by gravity recycling. The juice from the top of the vat moves to the bottom of the vat entirely by gravity. The fermentation takes place at low temperatures to avoid over extraction or harsh tannins. The 91 hectare vineyard of Chateau Cos d’Estournel is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is located close to the border of Pauillac and Saint Estephe at the southern tip of the Saint Estephe appellation. The vineyard has cultivated 84 hectares of vines. Even though the vineyard has been expanded over the years, the grape varietals planted here have remained consistent. The vineyard, located on the hill of Cos, has gentle elevations of up to 20 meters. On average, the vines are 35 years of age. However, the estate has very old Merlot vines as well, which date back more than 100 years. Part of the terroir is situated on the hill of Cos, which is at a high elevation for the Medoc at 20 meters. Cos d’Estournel is translated from old Gascon speech; which means the hill of pebbles. It describes the terroir along with clay, gravel, sand and limestone soil. However, there is a unique aspect to the soil at Cos d’Estournel, as you find more gravel and less clay here than you do at other neighboring vineyards. Because the fruit is grown close to the Atlantic ocean in a cool climate, Cos d’Estournel is often among the last of the properties in the Medoc to harvest. The vineyard is managed by teams and each team member is given 45,000 vines to look after. The vineyard, which is almost one large block, can be further divided into 72 separate parcels. — 8 years ago