Five Decades of Cos D'Estournel with Richard Brazier
Handford Wines, London
Tasted Tuesday, March 18, 2014 by Papies with 724 views
Introduction
Richard Brazier of Ancient & Modern wines ( http://www.ancientandmodernwines.co.uk/) presented a great vertical of Cos d'Estournel. We do have a good history with this chateau as it was one of our first major producers that we followed and have a decent collection. You might even call us Cos Groupies, well until the 2009 vintage came and we stopped as the prices were ridiculous and the wine became something totally different.
Only notable misses from the flight were the 2000 & 2001 but in any case it was good to see the wines performing well especially the 90 & 85 and a good surprise from the 95.
Wines were decanted fro 1-1.5hrs
Flight 1 (11 Notes)
Closing
Another great tasting at Handfords and for those Londn based we would recomment them for the balance they have, Serious wines, wine loving crowd but also on a light, open style with no pretentious side at all! Get on their list: http://www.handford.net/tastings/ or email Vicky at vicky@handford.net.
2005 Château Cos d'Estournel 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
78% Cab Sauv! Open on the nose, aromatic, full of dark fruits, like mocha (oak is still present). On the palate although it is very young, it is surprisingly forward and lush albeir lacks the complexity of an evolved wine. Good depth, young fine (not harsh at all) tannin. Full of life and promise and although needs a good 10 yrs to achieve its potential, drinking it now if one must is not a waste. A wine of balance and harmony. Has that light modern more forward side to it, but that will not stop it reaching greatness in the future. 94-95 now but an easy 98+ once it develops
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1996 Château Cos d'Estournel 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
We have had this wine quite a few times and this time it felt quite a bit drier on the fruit with a lot more tannin than other times so not sure if this has turned a corner or just bottle variation. The nose is open and beautiful, classic, evolved very old school, spice, pepper, cedar. On the palate it as mentioned above it felt dry, mineral with a lot of tannin. Lacked the charm and complexity. Muscular and feels like one of the 1996s to let sleep. 92 for the moment a slightly concerned about it.
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1995 Château Cos d'Estournel 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
This is definitely one of the better 1995s we have come across for some time and outshone the 1996 which is usually our preference. Lighter on the nose than expected and more on the fruit, light touch of mocha, dark fruits, light cedar. Little signs of a secondary switch. A solid performance, lush fruit across, depth, round tannin yet firm and alive. Not a trace of the green tannin that we usually find in 1995s. Complex. A touch short on the finish. A solid wine 94+ and with lots of life ahead of it.
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1990 Château Cos d'Estournel 96 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
WOTN by miles and once again a stellar performance and definitely the lush and rich 1990 vintage comes to complement the usually leaner, mineral style of Cos. Ripe, long deep wine, complex. Light hermal notes integrate with the lush fruit (only criticisms would be that it had a touch of burnt notes but this is fine print really) , good finish. A great wine and possible at this stage the best Cos around. 96+ and with lots of life.
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1989 Château Cos d'Estournel Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Had a funky nose and felt out of touch with other notes from this vintage. Will treat it as flawed.
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1987 Château Cos d'Estournel 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
This was a very nice surprise and was very healthy and alive with a decent colour. Ok it was a bit short on the finish but it behaved very well, had decent amount of fruit, albeit a bit rustic and we would have enjoyed it any day. Probably the only 1987 we have ever tried so not much in terms of data points here but this did not disappoint. 91
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1985 Château Cos d'Estournel 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Was ranked second after the stellar 1990, and once again a beautiful performance of 1985 vintage. Had a nice sweet core of fruit, well round, silky wine. Very aromatic, classic nose, showing a fair amount of secondary notes, still however with a healthy dose of fruit. This seems to be going strong and performed a lot better than the last time we came across it. 94-95 easy and drink now
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1983 Château Cos d'Estournel 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Well aged and still healthy. Much better showing than a year ago when we came across it (Rated 87). Still not a great wine but enjoyable. A touch of a sweet core, decent fruit but it felt it has seen better summers and should be consumed sooner than later. Came after the beautiful 85 too so it looked even worse. 89-90
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1982 Château Cos d'Estournel
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Definitely a disappointing bottle. Now if it’s the bottle or the wine we are not sure as we have had our fair share of bad but also great ones (2x 96s) so will omit rating this one.
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1976 Château Cos d'Estournel 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
The hot 1976 vintage still is churning good wine experiences. Similar to the Pichon Lalande this was pretty solid wine. Granted its better days were behind it still it was alive, with decent fruit and a lovely balance across. Decent fruit, nice open nose. Once more good surprise from 1976
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1964 Château Cos d'Estournel 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
The colour was cloudy and we expected a gone wine but far from that it was alive. Ok rustic, light and thin on the fruit, light sweet core, but especially with some food this would have been an enjoyable wine and a pleasant experience. A good surprise. 89 but a good 89
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