Chateau Cos d'Estournel, Saint-Estephe, France 2016
As mysterious and intriguing as a lone adventurer returning from a solitary sail, Cos d’Estournel is slow to reveal itself. Little by little, it evokes stories of distant places, market stalls brimming with unfamiliar fruits, spices and wares, village festivities warmed by the joy of revelers and the setting sun, and sumptuous visions of ladies and their voluptuous curves. A myriad of scents, colors and tastes appeals to the senses. The Grand Vin of Cos d’Estournel is both demure and deliberately sensuous, a fascinating and elegant nectar.
"More than ever before, our men and women were indispensable in facing the unprecedented challenges of the 2016 vintage. Throughout the year we continued to focus on crucial decisions concerning leaf removal, grass cover and tillage in order to maintain freshness. Gracious and ample, Cos d’Estournel 2016 offers an exquisitely delicate balance. During tasting, the 2016 vintage should be given time to breathe, so it may reveal its full breadth and magnificent structure. Refined and elegant, with silky tannins and a long finish, the 2016 vintage has extremely long cellaring potential"
"The 2016 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc aged in 65% new and 35% two-year-old French oak for 15 months. Bottled in July 2018, it is deep garnet-purple colored and starts off a little closed and reticent, opening out slowly and seductively to reveal beautiful lilacs, rose hip tea, crushed stones and camphor nuances over a core of crème de cassis, kirsch, wild blueberries and mocha plus wafts of incense and wood smoke. The palate is simply electric, charged with an energy and depth of flavors that seem to defy the elegance and ethereal nature of its medium-bodied weight, featuring super ripe, densely pixelated tannins that firmly frame the myriad of fruit and floral sparks, finishing with epic length. Just. Magic." Wine Advocate 100
VINOUS 100
JAMES SUCKLING 100
