Château Cos d'Estournel 2008

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). Drink now through 2021. 20,000 cases made.

2008 was a fairly late and fresh vintage, with a low yield of 28 hl/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.

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 lots of intense fruit. Vibrant wine. Better in 2020 but already fascinating to drink.

Red fruit mix on the nose and a really lovely soy and mushroom note that adds real interest and complexity. Fragrant and floral on the finish – such reams of flavour! Symphonic and beautiful. (RH)

In the nose, the wine is spicy, with cedar, tobacco, blackberries, black currants, and green, peppery herbs. Concentrated, chewy, and a bit chunky, the wine strives to be elegant, and almost gets there, but it just can’t quite make it. With 1 hour of air, there is some improvement. Drink from 2025-2040.

The first vintage made at the new winery, the 2008 Cos d’Estournel is drinking beautifully today, with terrific complexity as well as a silky, polished style on the palate. Made from 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc and revealing copious amounts of crème de cassis and black cherry fruit intermixed with notes of toasted bread, spice, and cedar, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a silky, sexy texture, and sweet tannin. Count me in as a fan. This beauty can be drunk today or cellared for another 15-20 years.

85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. 78% of the harvest made it into the Grand Vin. Deep, dense garnet with purple and violet highlights. Complex bouquet, slightly lactic, notes of rock candy, vanilla pod, blackberry jelly, black currant and dark noble woods, with delicate smoky nuances in the background. On the palate, lots of silkiness, then a generous, concentrated blueberry-like extract; the finish shows cassis, blackberries, and a hint of Dominican tobacco, tapering off with fine, elegant drive. Shows certain parallels with the 1988 vintage – as do quite a few Médocs.

Cos d’Estournel: wait and sip coffee The famous Deuxième Cru from St. Estèphe looks the same on the outside. The facade has been renovated, but outwardly everything seems unchanged. However, anyone who gets the chance to visit the new cellars is left speechless. Everything gleams with expensive stainless steel. Many tronconic vats give the team the ability to vinify each parcel separately. The entire production runs on gravity. Not an easy task for such a large estate. For many producers, the possibility of using gravity ends at the “foulage,” and pumping becomes necessary. Not at Cos. The still-fermenting wine is gently allowed to flow into an empty stainless-steel tank located in a lift beneath the vat room. Then the lift (there are four of them at Cos!) is taken to the top floor, and the young wine trickles back through the upper vat opening onto the cap. It’s that simple. If it weren’t for the massive investments that the owner, Michel Reybier, would like to amortize over the coming years. In recent years, after the change of ownership, Cos reached a dangerously high price level, and many buyers behaved rather cautiously. “And if now the Premiers have to correct their exaggerated prices sharply downward, then everyone will think that Cos should also cost only half. We are forced by the law of the outdated classification to be much cheaper than the Premiers – yet Cos can usually match them with ease in quality. The far more expensive Crus usually declassify two-thirds of the harvest to select the Grand Vin from the rest. At first glance, this seems like a major sacrifice. But the fact is that the Premiers are increasingly buying smaller, less good terroirs within the appellation to make more Deuxième Vin. That’s where a considerable part of the business is done today. The terroir of Cos d’Estournel is very homogeneous, and if properly tended, selecting up to 80% as Grand Vin at a very high level is possible. Who said that? Jean-Guillaume Prats. He said it – and took another sip of his small mocha. 78% Grand Vin. 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Deep, dense garnet with lilac and violet reflections. Complex bouquet, delicately lactic, notes of rock candy, vanilla pod, blackberry jelly, black currant and dark fine woods, with subtle smoky hints underneath. On the palate, lots of silkiness up front, then a rich, concentrated extract, remaining blueberry-toned and showing cassis, blackberry and a hint of Dominican tobacco on the finish, tapering off with fine, elegant drive. Certain parallels with the ’88 are present. As with quite a few other Médocs. 11: tasted twice at the estate within three weeks. A very powerful, black-fruited Cos with plenty of Arabica coffee, power and quite a bit of classicism, which in recent years, and especially in the following vintage 2009, wasn’t always the case. Lots of tannins, but elegant; not a monster, but with plenty of drive. 20: brightening wine-red, relatively little depth in the center. Open bouquet, floral tones, damsons, some blue fruit. Presents itself as accessible without being complex or complicated. On the palate, juicy, food-friendly, elegant, with good balance. Documenting a simple greatness. Small vintage – rather large wine. Should you buy this Cos? You can impress label drinkers without them having to bite into granite tannins. Those seeking truly great Bordeaux should leave it be. I like it much less than in its youth. Rounded: (18/20).

Fragrant, sweet, floral, powerful bouquet, blackberries, fresh plums, coffee beans. Fine, fresh palate with sweet fruit, delicate tannins, silky structure, intense aromatics, long, fragrant finish. 18/20 drink - 2034

Very elegant, delicate and persistent, medium length, superb spicy finish.

What freshness and fruity intensity in the bouquet of Cos 2008. I also note pleasant hints of chocolate and cedar. On the palate, the wine impresses with its breadth and balance. Such quiet strength, combining supportive tannins with a refreshing structure. Fresh, racy character, with a fruity, persistent finish. A great success.

The nose is aromatic and fairly intense, revealing notes of small wild berries, blackcurrant, blackberry and flowers (violet, a hint of cornflower), combined with hints of graphite and incense, fine touches of licorice and nutmeg, along with a hint of spices, curcumin and discreet oak. The wine benefits from decanting. There is a very subtle, borderline earthy touch. The palate is fruity, juicy, balanced, mineral, relatively tight and racy, offering fleshy fruit, an acidic backbone, lovely texture, a certain density, finesse, roundness and a delicate gourmandise. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of blackberry, plum and black cherry, combined with a hint of fresh red berries and raspberry, as well as fine notes of licorice stick, oak, discreet spices and a touch of tobacco. The tannins are a bit firm. Good length. A very discreet hint of mocha/oak lingers on the finish. (wait 5 years)

Logo on the cork: AL Dark colour, medium intensity and slightly evolved. Moderately aromatic nose and rather cool for the cru. Rich on the attack, then more discreet mid-palate, a touch austere; this wine levels off between the mid-palate and the finish. Normal length.

This big, smoky wine has great richness and a big, concentrated structure. The feel is dark, solid, based on spice, new wood and ripe black plums touched with red berries, the tannins sheltering beneath.