2014 Cos d'Estournel 2eme Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe

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

Colour: Red

Vintage: 2014

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

98 JS

If you want to know what St.-Estèphe smells like, this is it. Aromas of spices, black truffles, forest floor, dried strawberries and tar. It’s full-bodied yet pinpointed on the palate with fabulous density and richness. It’s opulent but in a reserved and checked way. This needs at least five or six years to come around, but it’s already fantastic. What harmony and structure. Try in 2022 if you can keep your hands off it!

James Suckling

965 WL

Quality 955 | Brand 996 | Economics 935 |
Quality: Predicted life of 21 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 2014 vintage, which averages 11 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

96 DR

Selecting the right moment for opening these serious wines is never easy, and the 2014 vintage will continue to soften and open over the next few decades, but the opulent black fruits in this vintage are already filling out the tannic frame. In just the 12 months since I last tasted this wine, the inky confidence and gourmet edging is increasingly irresistable. Cigar box, graphite, cloves and crushed rocks abound, with pomegranate and blueberry fruit. Beautiful, in a great vintage for this appellaiton. Michel Reybier owner, Aymeric de Gironde director at the time. Jane Anson Sept 2023 - Inside Bordeaux

Decanter

96 NM

The 2014 Cos d’Estournel has another intense bouquet with blackberry, graphite, tobacco and mint aromas, almost Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin that exert plenty of grip. This is surfeit with sappy black fruit, graceful and tensile with a beautiful, svelte finish that fans out gloriously. There is real panache to this wine, persistent and satisfying, the aftertaste of graphite and tobacco extraordinarily long. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. - vinous.com, March 2018

Neal Martin

95 JL

Deep, dark, black, and red fruits come in opulent layers with touches of mint, spice, freshness, and energy, along with a bit of chalk and cocoa on the backend. This is a very strong wine for the vintage. Drink from 2023-2050. tasted Nov 2023

Jeff Leve

94 RP

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2014 Cos d'Estournel has a deep garnet-purple color and is a little closed at this stage, offering slowly emerging scents of fresh blackcurrants, black plums and blackberries plus nuances of pencil shavings, dried lavender, bay leaves and fertile loam with a waft of iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, it has a generous mid-palate of muscular, youthful fruit with a firm frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and savory.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Nov 2018

Wine Advocate

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