2008 Cos d'Estournel 2eme Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe

Cos d'Estournel 2eme Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe

Colour: Red

Vintage: 2008

Region: Bordeaux, Saint-Estephe

From its peak high up on the St Estephe escarpment, looking down onto Lafite at the north end of Pauillac, Cos d’Estournel’s mystical eastern-inspired Chateau has always produced wines of exotic hedonism. Famed once for its wines of monolithic weight and intensity, since 2011 the estate has seen a real shift in style focusing on creating wines that are beautifully balanced with classical elegance and finesse. The team are clearly increasingly driven to reflect the remarkable mineral terroir of the estate rather than the sheer power of its opulent fruit. Undoubtedly one of the ‘Super Seconds’, in top vintages it can really push the First Growths for quality and panache.

Tasting Notes and Scores

951 WL

Quality 929 | Brand 996 | Economics 919 |
Quality: Predicted life of 14 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 2008 vintage, which averages 10 years Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 48 of the world's top wine lists, including De Librije Economics: More traded at auction than its peers, its top 5 vintages having seen 3,203 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production: Higher production than its peer group average of 137,727 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

Wine Lister

95 RP

The medium to deep garnet colored 2008 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Pow! The nose explodes with notes of baked cherries, preserved plums, fried herbs, beef drippings and warm cassis with wafts of wood smoke, salami and tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and earthy/savory in character, sporting beautifully ripe, grainy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Nov 2018

Wine Advocate

94 NM

The 2008 Cos d’Estournel had one of the most backward, reticent bouquets that I encountered during my tasting. This is so sultry and broody, begrudgingly offering some lovely brambly red fruit mixed with pencil box. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, plenty of black fruit laced with allspice, black pepper and sage, leading to a dense and concentrated finish that should see this age for 20 or 30 years. It does not really serve as a forerunner to the blockbuster 2009 because this is cut from a completely different cloth. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)

– vinous.com, Feb 2018

Neal Martin

94 JS

A very decadent wine on the nose with so much meat, spice and ripe fruit character. Sea shell as well. Full body, tight and structured with silky tannins and a lots of intense fruit. Vibrant wine. Better in 2020 but already fascinating to drink.

James Suckling

91 WS

This has a slight hint of the vintage's crisp, angular feel, but there are impressive layers of fruit here, with a bright mineral edge cutting through the damson plum and red currant notes. This has put on a little bit of weight in the bottle, too. Showing well.—Non-blind Cos-d'Estournel vertical (December 2015). JM

Wine Spectator

90 DR

2008 was a fairly late and fresh vintage, with a low yield of 28hl/ha, which helped to ripen the Cabernet Sauvignon. The new cellars meant they could carefully isolate plots and carry out more precise extractions at low temperatures (maximum 16°C) to protect the fruit. This wine was austere and tight when young, full of rigidity that needed time to soften, but it now feels precise and carefully-wrought. This is just beginning to open up, showcasing clear spice notes. It’s a little hesitant, but there's plenty of Cos d’Estournel signature polish.
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Château Cos d'Estournel. Bordeaux, 02 Jul 2018)
Part of How Bordeaux 2008 wines taste now: 70 top names rated

Decanter

Cos d'Estournel 2eme Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe