Château Cos d'Estournel, 2eme Cru Classé, St Estèphe
    Château Cos d'Estournel

    Château Cos d'Estournel, 2eme Cru Classé, St Estèphe, 2005

    97/100
    Inside Bordeaux
    98/100
    Robert Parker Wine Advocate
    96/100
    The Wine Independent
    94/100
    Vinous
    Available Vintages
    Broking
    1. 2005

      12x75cl

      DP

      £2,023.07

    Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

    Cos is on top form in 2005 and has produced one of the wines of the vintage. The Grand Vin, which is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, offers up a powerful, complex but restrained aroma profile that is less fruit-driven than the Pagodes and holds far more in reserve. What it withholds on the nose, it delivers on the palate, building gradually both in depth and weight: the softest, silky tannins lead into a rich array of complex flavours, beginning with pure, rich cassis and moving on to coffee, new oak, herbs, mushrooms and truffles. There is a clear suggestion of high alcohol on the finish – remember the port-like comparisons drawn with Cheval Blanc 1947? – but the final, persistence balance is elegance itself. This is big, serious Bordeaux worth fighting for.

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    Critic Reviews

    94/100
    Neal Martin,
    Vinous
    The 2005 Cos Estournel is a vintage that I had not tasted for several years, made in the temporary winery at the time using a vertical press and peristaltic pumps for the first time. Deep in colour with light bricking on the rim, it has a thoroughly enjoyable nose that has matured a little since my last encounter: blackberry, loam, hints of star anise and sage emerge. Strangely, there is something a little Burgundian about this Saint-Estèphe. The palate is full-bodied with grippy tannins and notes of chocolate chip and candied orange peel, savoury and a little animally in style. I think it has lost a soupçon of elegance in the interim since it feels assertive on the finish, but I feel that five or six hours' decanting would smooth its edges. Tasted at the château.
    drinking window 2027 - 2050
    date of review 06/2025
    97/100
    Jane Anson,
    Inside Bordeaux
    Vibrant, with stately ruby red depths, touches of smoked oak, grilled cocoa bean and liqourice. This is powerful, with depths to the slate-strewn tannins. Tobacco, saffron, sage, crushed stones, baked earth, there is an opulent ripeness to the fruit, just on the precipice of tertiary. A lovely wine, big shouldered still with a few years before reaching its plateau. A few years ago I wrote of the Cos 2005, 'Good luck trying to predict when this wine will reach its end', and I still absolutely stand by that comment. 100% new oak.
    drinking window 2022 - 2050
    date of review 09/2022
    96/100
    Lisa Perrotti-Brown,
    The Wine Independent
    The 2005 Cos d'Estournel is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-brick in color, it delivers blackcurrant pastilles, baked plums, and blackberry pie scents with smoked meats, cigar box, new leather, and dusty soil hints in the background. Full-bodied, concentrated, and muscular, it has firm, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral-laced. Drinking well now, it should cellar through 2045 and beyond. In 2000, Michel Reybier - former food mogul and subsequent owner of the La Reserve group of luxury hotels, spas and restaurants - purchased this property. Jean-Guillaume Prats, Bruno’s son, was asked by Reybier to stay on for a period as the managing director of the estate and it has to be said that he treated the property with the same passion and shared vision for greatness as ever. In 2004, Dominique Arangoits came on board as winemaker and remains today as the humble, down-to-earth orchestrator and rock of this estate.
    drinking window 2022 - 2045
    date of review 07/2022
    98/100
    Lisa Perrotti-Brown,
    Robert Parker Wine Advocate
    The 2005 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet colored, it is still a little closed and youthfully shy. With coaxing, the nose is just beginning to offer glimpses at vivacious kirsch, red roses, violets, licorice and mocha scents over a creme de cassis, blackberry pie and chocolate-covered cherry core with wafts of chargrill, mossy bark and truffles. Full-bodied, concentrated and wonderfully complex in the mouth, the palate is just beginning to reveal the true potential of this wine, with tightly wound layers of perfumed black fruits and earthy notions bound by a rock-solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and finishing with epic persistence. This still needs 5-6 years, but I love how this beauty is shaping up!!
    drinking window 2018 - 2045
    date of review 11/2018

    product details

    Specifications

    Country:
    France
    Region:
    Bordeaux
    Appellation:
    St Estèphe
    style:
    Red Wine
    Grape Variety:
    Cab Sauvignon Merlot
    abv:
    13%

    allergen information

    This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.