2017 Cos d'Estournel

With its exotic architecture and distinctive, powerful style, Cos d'Estournel is one of the most famous and sought-after Bordeaux year in, year out. Rich, complex, Cabernet-driven wine with an attractive balance of blackcurrant fruit, leaf and a light herby character. Mineral and interest. Rich, sweet fruit with good concentration and power, a firm, full tannic structure and a real sense of restrained presence. Polished and correct but with real energy and no litte drive and style. - April 2018

The final blend of the 2017 Cos d'Estournel is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Very deep purple-black in color, it offers up intense scents of crushed blackcurrants, blackberries and black cherries with touches of incense, spice cake, star anise and plum preserves plus a perfumed hint of potpourri. The palate is medium-bodied with very firm yet wonderfully ripe, "sweet", fine-grained tannins at just 13% alcohol—something of a miracle in our modern times. The palate sports fantastic freshness and tons of energy emitted from the intensely perfumed black fruit layers, finishing on an epically long-lingering mineral note. Truly profound.
- Lisa Perrotti-Brown, erobertparker.com, April 2018

The 2017 Cos d’Estournel showed extremely well from barrel and likewise in bottle, continuing this estate’s strong run of form since the 2014 vintage. You instantaneously fall in love with the nose that bursts forth with blackberry, raspberry coulis, crushed stone, iodine and pressed iris petal. The 60% new oak is beautifully integrated. Quintessentially Cos d’Estournel. The palate is medium-bodied with supple black fruit laced with black truffle and graphite, quite Pauillac-like in style, which is no surprise given its location. This is very focused and perhaps understated compared to the 2016, yet its freshness and vivacity are undeniable. "Streamlined, cool and linear" I wrote at en primeur... I have no reason to alter that sentiment. www.vinous.com

Quite the bottle here! Spices, such as nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as dried meat and plums with cedar and sandalwood. Full body. Deep and dense in the center palate and a long, long finish. Shows finesse and tightness. Very polished tannins. Long and ethereal.

Inky with black core and purple rim. Dark-fruited and lightly charry to give a savoury/fruit complexity. Extremely pure cassis. A little more chewy than the Pagodes but still remarkably silky, with clarity, precision and length but without excess richness. Deep and long. Amazing balance already. Great precision, helped by a decade of experience in the new chai, says technical director Dominique Arangoits. Opens in the glass to reveal a hint of something floral. Plenty of depth but no excess weight, and modest alcohol. - Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2018

The 2017 Cos d'Estournel is a sleek, polished wine built on finesse more than power. Sweet, perfumed aromatics and silky tannins add to that impression. In 2017 the Grand Vin shows a distinctly red-fruit and floral character that matches its mid-weight personality nicely. The blend is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. New oak is around 60%. - vinous.com, May 2018

The grand vin 2017 Chateau Cos D'Estournel checks in as 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot brought up in 60% new French oak. It's a classic 2017 that shows the straight, very classic style of the vintage with its medium to full body, ripe, present tannins, and solid spine of acidity. Beautiful cassis, green tobacco, graphite, and cedar pencil notes all emerge from the glass, and as with the Pagodes, it's still tight and reserved on the palate. Reminding me of the 1996 with its classic, balanced style, give bottles 5-7 years and enjoy over the following two decades.