2019 Cos d'Estournel, St-Estèphe (Pre-Arrival)

SKU #1480640 99 points James Suckling

This is so aromatic with blackcurrants, black berries and raspberries. Pure fruit, together with coffee and nutmeg. Really fresh and clean with bright spices. Full-bodied, yet reserved and tight with fantastic structure. So long. This is a great Cos for the cellar. A real benchmark for the true character. Needs at least five or six years to open and come around. Try after 2029. (2/2022)

98 points Decanter

Powerful and enjoyable Cos. Needs to be given time in the glass to reveal the impressively velvety texture, and the sheer depth of bitter black chocolate, black truffle and coffee notes. The tannins sit back and then build slowly to full bristling impact by the close of play. Feels extremely sophisticated, with the always-present Cos glamour. (JA) (5/2020)

98 points Vinous

The 2019 Cos d'Estournel is a deep, powerful wine. That has been true on both times I have tasted it recently. Readers will have to be patient. Those who can afford it will be rewarded with a towering, statuesque Saint-Estèphe. With a bit of air the fruit starts to emerge, but this is a very reticent Cos that does not show the opulence that it often does in its youth. Gravel, smoke, incense, tobacco and dried flowers gradually unfurl over time, hinting at a very bright future. The 2019 is impressive. That's all there is to it. (AG) (2/2022)

96-98 points Wine Enthusiast

The beautiful perfume of this stylish wine are the first impression. They set the scene for the wonderful black currant fruits and dark tannins that meld together on the palate. Made with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, this structured wine shows long-term aging potential. (RV) (6/2020)

97 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2019 Cos d'Estournel has turned out brilliantly, exhibiting aromas of minty cassis, sweet wild berries and wild plums mingled with hints of spices, loamy soil and potpourri. Full-bodied, broad and enveloping, it's polished and seamless, its ample chassis of fine, velvety tannin entirely concealed in its deep core of succulent, crunchy fruit. Beautifully integrated at this early stage, the last decade has witnessed a number of changes at this address, including a trend toward less aggressively late picking, cooler fermentations and élevage with fewer rackings and more moderate percentages of less heavily toasted new oak: in 2019, the results speak for themselves. (WK) 97+ (4/2022)

96 points Jeb Dunnuck

The Grand Vin 2019 Château Cos D'Estournel checks in as 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot coming from 43 hectoliters per hectare and hitting a healthy 14% alcohol. Brought up in just 55% new French oak, it's a pretty, elegant, seamless Saint-Estèphe that has plenty of redcurrant and cassis-like fruit as well as lead pencil, graphite, and chalky minerality. Medium to full-bodied, it has supple, fine tannins, wonderful purity, and a classy, regal profile that will be loved by staunch traditionalists out there. Exceedingly elegant and finesse-driven, with a touch of Château Lafite-like character, I compared this wine to a more elegant version of the 2016 from barrel, but now from bottle, I think 2014 is a better comparison in its weight, balance, and just overall style. It has a silky, charming style that already offers pleasure but won't hit maturity for a good 7-8 years and will have 25+ years of prime drinking. (4/2022)

96 points Wine Spectator

Dark and winey, featuring black currant, fig and blackberry preserve flavors laced with a smoldering hint of cast iron, plus notes of anise, apple wood, sweet bay leaf and warm earth. The finish offers a long sanguine thread that stitches it all up. Gorgeous. (JM) (3/2022)

Jancis Robinson

Deep colour to the rim. Huge concentration of dark fruit with a notable Cabernet cassis aroma. Mighty tannic build but very fine tannins. Layers of fruit. Powerful but carefully constructed and precise. A lovely mellow quality to such a muscular wine. Plenty of reserve and clearly for long ageing. 18+/20 points (JL) (6/2020)

K&L Notes

97 points Jane Anson for Inside Bordeaux: "Powerful, concentrated and textured black cherry, cassis and blueberry fruits, laden with black truffle, cocoa bean and liquorice root. Reduction on the first nose gives a gunsmoke edge, this is full of personality and opens to show fresh acidities and finessed tannins. Such a good vintage at this estate, one to cellar for a good few years and then luxuriate in when it's ready. 40hl/h." (10/2021) 97 points Neal Martin for Vinous: "The 2019 Cos d'Estournel was picked from September 23 to October 7 at 43hL/ha, matured in a judicious 55% new oak, and bottled in July 2021 by gravity. It is more backward on the nose, and there’s nothing wrong with that for a Grand Vin. Biding its time, it opens to deliver lovely, very pure scents of blackberry, raspberry coulis and touches of graphite and violet, the latter having developed during barrel maturation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, and the texture is a little more crunchy than when tasted from barrel sample. Gone is the silkiness; in its place there is backbone and grip, features that will stand this Cos d’Estournel in good stead for considerable cellar aging. It displays more classicism in bottle compared to barrel, and exhibits more Saint-Estèphe DNA." (02/2022)