Château Cos-d'Estournel - St.-Estèphe 2016 (750ml)
Price: $320.00
| Producer | Château Cos-d'Estournel |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | St. Estephe |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Sku | 8515 |
| Size | 750ml |
The praise of the 2016 vintage has been numerous and robust. A common thread from all the reports and blogs posted thus far is that the Left Bank specifically Pauillac St. Estephe and St. Julien excelled in this vintage. If Pauillac is the center of success it is no wonder that Cos d'Estournel is one of the standouts of St. Estephe. Separated by a stream that serves as the border of Pauillac and St. Estephe Cos d'Estournel sits adjacent to Lafite-Rothschild.?"
James Suckling: 100 Points
This is muscular yet so well defined and toned. Full-bodied with deep and dense fruit on the palate yet powerful and rich at the same time. So much sandalwood and blackberry character. Chewy and rich at the finish. This is a warm and generous wine but the alcohol is just over 13 degrees. Not that high. Love the finish. Extravagant. Magical. Try from 2025.
Wine Advocate: 100 Points
The 2016 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon 23% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc aged in 65% new and 35% two-year-old French oak for 15 months. Bottled in July 2018 it is deep garnet-purple colored and starts off a little closed and reticent opening out slowly and seductively to reveal beautiful lilacs rose hip tea crushed stones and camphor nuances over a core of crème de cassis kirsch wild blueberries and mocha plus wafts of incense and wood smoke. The palate is simply electric charged with an energy and depth of flavors that seem to defy the elegance and ethereal nature of its medium-bodied weight featuring super ripe densely pixelated tannins that firmly frame the myriad of fruit and floral sparks finishing with epic length. Just. Magic. ?Rains on 13th September helped finish the ripening in 2016" winemaker Dominique Arangoits informed me. ?There was a little water stress here on the young vines? he confessed. ?It was very important not to overreact to the wet conditions in June not to de-leaf too much. We have to be more careful than in the past. It was not a very early vintage but we had to be careful with the Merlot and not to harvest too late. It was very important to keep the fruit and the energy in the wines. In the end we didn?t even need to fine the wines?this was only the second vintage for this. We started in 2015. In 2017 we will probably not need to fine either. We have our own bottling line so we have control.? Arangoits and his team nailed it in 2016. It is also important to highlight that the transformation at Cos d?Estournel since Michel Reybier purchased the château in 2000 is simply incredible. Reybier?s considerable efforts since then in the vineyards and the winery are remarkable. What he has achieved has not only helped to bring the estate up to its true potential but also instilled a pretty impressive batting record when it comes to consistency of quality. Readers may want to check out my dedicated article on this estate also published this issue with a look at vintages 2000-2015.
Vinous: 100 Points
In my last sighted review of the 2016 Cos d?Estournel I wrote: "I suspect it will close down for a period in its youth." Perhaps it is already beginning to shut down because though this wine was deeply impressive it fell just a notch short of ethereal previous bottles despite its "pixelated black fruit" on the nose and "sublime balance" on the palate. I tasted the wine twice thereafter though this time with a 4-6 hour decant and this revealed the Cos d'Estournel that has amazed since I first tasted it out of barrel. -- Neal Martin The 2016 Cos d?Estournel was a bona fide showstopper out of barrel the best that I had encountered in over 20 years of visiting the estate during en primeur so my expectations were piled high when I returned to find out how it performs in bottle. Deep almost opaque in color it sports a very intense but broody bouquet with fathomless deep black fruit tinged with blueberry and violet. The aromas almost seem to envelop the senses. The palate is medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannin that I have never witnessed in any other vintage of Cos d?Estourn
Jeb Dunnuck: 99 Points
The grand vin 2016 Cos d'Estournel checks in as 76% Cabernet Sauvignon 23% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc that saw 70% new French oak. One of the more seamless pure elegant versions of this cuvée out there it boasts a saturated purple color as well as a monster nose of pure crème de cassis gravelly rocky minerality tobacco leaf crushed violets and lead pencil shavings. One of those ?iron fists in a velvet glove? wines with full-bodied richness and beautiful structure that?s covered by thrilling levels of fruit and texture it stays tight compact and incredibly focused on the palate. It?s already brilliant given its purity of fruit and balance but it deserves a decade of bottle age and will keep for 4-5 decades.
Wine Enthusiast: 96-98 Points
"This perfumed wine is stylish and elegant. It is all about the magnificent and sophisticated fruit. At the same time don't be fooled by the richness: the tannins are all there a dense and concentrated core at the heart of this seriously ageworthy wine. It demands many years."
Wine Spectator: 96 Points
This has a core of slightly exotic loganberry, plum and boysenberry fruit laced with singed spice, savory, lilac and incense notes, while a buried chalk-edged minerality sits in reserve. Very sleek, with a wonderfully long finish that lets the fruit and other elements shimmer. Best from 2025 through 2040. 15,833 cases made.
| Quantity: |
