Chateau Cos D'Estournel Collectors Wine Tasting with Special Guest Edward Cannan

"It wasn't always like this. Before Paris, people didn't drink our wine. I mean, my friends did. But you could hardly consider their palates discerning..."

Bo Barrett - Bottle Shock 

We are big fans of Chateau Cos D’Estournel so when our friend Edward Cannon, the managing director for this Chateau was coming to town I knew that we had a lot of Chateau Cos D’Estournel collectors out there that would love to bring a bottle out of their cellar to share with our group tonight.  The last time we had the folks from Cos here we had 15 different vintages going back to 1961 and the 1982 was the wine of the night!

Our collector series tasting event is where we ask you, our wine drinking people, to come up with some wine from your wine collection to add to the party in exchange for your ticket to the event.  That’s correct the collector series tasting portion of the event is FREE, all it will cost you is one bottle of Chateau Cos D’Estournel from your cellar!!

We already have 18 people signed up for this event even without sending out an e-mail to promote the tasting so there are no spaces remaining at this time, but we will be confirming the reservations first thing next week so if anyone likes Cos and wants to attend, we may have a space open up so let us know ASAP and we can add you to the waiting list for this event. 

Chateau Cos D’Estournel Collectors Cellar Tasting
with Special Guest Edward Cannon
Thursday May 6th
7:30pm

Let me explain further- this is a two-part event:

Cos D’Estournel Collectors Tasting Part 1

The first part of the evening begins at 7:30pm, this is where we will be tasting through a vertical selection of at least 10 vintages of Chateau Cos D’Estournel. The price of admission is one bottle of Chateau Cos D’Estournel from your cellar, but here is the catch- we only need 1 bottles of each wine, so the longer you wait to respond the harder it will be to get a seat as you will have to go further back in time because the youngest vintages will be filled up by the first collectors who respond.

If you would like to attend the vertical tasting just respond to andy@winewatch.com with the vintage of Chateau Cos D’Estournel you would like to trade for your seat. 

**There are only 18 spaces available for this event.

Here are the vintages that we have already:

1978 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
1979 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe Magnum
1982 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe 
1996 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
1997 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe 
1998 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2000 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2001 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2002 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2003 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2005 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2007 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2010 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2012 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe
2014 Cos D’Estournel St. Estephe

 

(I will add the vintages as people respond with the vintage they are bringing. 

Part Two: Dinner

The dinner starts immediately after the tasting and you have to attend the dinner if you are at the tasting.  Toni Lampasone will be making a special menu to accompany the tasting wines.  The fee for the dinner is $125 + tax.

Menu
Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie
Veal Bone Marrow canoe with lemon Parsley Gremolata
Venison and Shiitake Shumai with Porcini Crema
Duck Confit with Currant Demi and Pomme Frits
Canele Cakes with Rum Pineapple Sauce

Additional Wines for dinner:

2018 Chateau Cos D'Estournel Blanc
Price: $243.00 Your Price: $213.84
2010 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $141.00             Your Price: $ 124.08
2009 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $ 144.00            Your Price: $ 126.72
2006 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $123.00 Your Price: $108.24

A bit about Cos D’Estournel:

Cos D'Estournel lies across a marshy meadow and up a slope from what may be the world's most famous wine estate, Château Lafite Rothschild.  Cos has always been an odd curiosity among the stately châteaux of the Médoc, for the property is unlike anything else in all of France.  At the top of the hill with vineyards gently fanning down and out over the surrounding slopes sits the great chai - a fantastic architectural amalgam of Chinese gothic and French country château.  D'Estournel is the legacy of its first proprietor, Monsieur Louis Gaspard D'Estournel, who used to breed horses and ship them to the Orient.  Monsieur D'Estournel was inspired by what he saw on his many trips; the entrance to Cos D'Estournel probably best embodies the former owner's taste for the exotic and the unusual of the East.  The main door to the chai once formed the entrance to the harem of the Sultan of Zanzibar and is carved with vine leaves, bunches of grapes, flowers, and wondrous animals.  Three Chinese style pagoda turrets grace the structure, and a triumphal arch leads to the main road.  The visual impact is almost shocking in the context of its surroundings; one can just imagine the controversy it must have aroused in the staid and somber Médoc of the early 1800's.

Unlike its immediate neighbors to the South in Pauillac - who were producing wines of world fame by 1800 - Cos was a late bloomer.  Although wine may have been made on the property in the late 1700's, it wasn't until the early 1800's when, according to legend, Louis decided to sell some of his home-grown stuff on one of his trips to the Orient.  However, the folks back East didn't buy a drop, and he had to cart it all the way back to France.  At the conclusion of the lengthy round trip, he found that not only did his wine travel well but that time had softened it up marvelously.  It fetched a very high price on the Bordeaux market; and from that point forward, Cos D'Estournel was in the wine business.   Louis D'Estournel continued to improve Cos all the way into the 1850's and sold it just before his death in 1853 at a price equivalent to that paid a year earlier for the great Château Mouton Rothschild.  That Cos D'Estournel had risen to a position of prominence in that era was confirmed by the 1855 Grand Cru Classification of Bordeaux.  It was ranked a second cru as well as being rated the highest rated wine of the commune of St. Estèphe.

After Mon. D'Estournel's death, the estate changed ownership several times and was bought in 1919 by the Ginestets, one of Bordeaux's leading wine families.  The proprietor at that time, Bruno Prats, was a son of one of the Ginestets (his mother was the sister of Pierre Ginestet, the former owner of Château Margaux).  Prats spent his summers at Château Marbuzet, for there has never been a real château at Cos D'Estournel - only the great chai (the winery and barrel aging facilities).  In fact, it was not until the mid seventies that the word Château was affixed to the name; before that time the label said only Cos D'Estournel. Although Cos D'Estournel has always been considered the best wine of St. Estèphe, it was never considered in the same league as some of the great châteaux of Pauillac, St. Julien, and Margaux.  All that changed under the stewardship of Prats, and Cos has gone from strength to strength.  Excellent wines were produced there in 1978 and 1979, and the Château probably produced the greatest wine in its history in 1982 - it rivaled the wines produced by the first growths.  The 1985 was every bit as good as the 1982, this elevated the prestige of Cos D'Estournel to even higher levels. 

In 1998, the PRATS brothers sold Cos d'Estournel to the Merlaut family, the owners of the Taillan group, and to Argentinian investors represented by Mr Mayano.  Cos was sold again in 2000 and currently belongs to the Société des Domaines Reybier.  With this most recent change in ownership came Jean-Guillaume Prats, great-grandson of Fernand Ginestet and son of Bruno Prats who was also the manager of Cos from 1970 to 1998.  Since Jean-Guillaume as taken the helm many critics felt that Cos D'Estournel is producing a wine that is on par with the first growths of the Médoc! 

The production of Cos D'Estournel is approximately 20,000 cases a year of a wine that is built for aging, fairly austere when young Cos needs 10-15 years of age in a great vintage like 2001 and can last for upwards of 30 years if cellared properly.  The 2001 is a typically large-scaled Cos D'Estournel, but the wine still has remarkable elegance and approachability for a wine from Saint-Estèphe.  This may be attributable partially to winemaking practices, partly to the grapes in the final blend (the vineyard is planted to 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot), and partly to the soil.  The estate's attributes are best described by the noted English authority, Clive Coates, who says:  "Cos is really a different wine from any other St. Estèphe...a wine which is somewhat softer and more elegant, less aggressively powerful...Cos, however, has both the power and finesse, both the body and the delicacy, both the backbone and the fruit”.  In the words of Clive Coates, "Grand Vin, indeed!"
Owner of Cos d’Estournel since 2000, entrepreneur Michel Reybier is a simple and discreet man. Moved by the extraordinary personality of the estate and the audacity of its founder, his decision to acquire was clear: it would be “Cos and only Cos.”
Today he remains deeply attached to his vineyard. “At first glance, I was attracted by the history of the place. And then when I visited the estate, I felt instantly how unique, how exceptional it is.”
Michel Reybier is an active presence throughout the year and a major actor in the estate’s development. In this he resembles his predecessor Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, with whom he also shares a profound passion for Cos d’Estournel.

All the Cos D’Estournel we have in the store:

2018 Chateau Cos D'Estournel Blanc
Price: $243.00    Your Price: $213.84

(94 Points)  The 2018 Blanc is composed of 67% Sauvignon Blanc and 33% Sémillon and was matured in 7% new barriques (13.88% alcohol). It opens very slowly, with a lot of coaxing, to reveal fragrant scents of lime blossoms, yellow apples and fresh grapefruit plus hints of crushed rocks, straw and sea spray. The medium-bodied palate has a beautiful satiny texture and fantastically intense citrus and apple layers with loads of mineral and herbal sparks on the long finish. Give it a good couple of years in bottle to open up, and drink it over the following 10 to 12 years or more.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2018 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel Blanc St. Estephe
Price: $99.00       Your Price: $87.12

2016 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe Magnum
Price: $225.00    Your Price: $198
2016 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $93.00       Your Price: $81.84            Quantity in Stock: 17
2015 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $69.00       Your Price: $60.72            Quantity in Stock: 57
2014 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $97.50       Your Price: $85.80
2012 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $105.00    Your Price: $92.40
2010 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $141.00    Your Price: $ 124.08
2009 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $ 144.00   Your Price: $ 126.72
2006 Pagodes de Cos d'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $123.00    Your Price: $108.24

2018 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe (6 Liter)
Price : $3420.00                 Sale $3009.60
2018 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe (3 Liter)
Price : $ 1608.00                Sale $1415.04
2018 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe Magnum
Price : $459.00   Sale $403.92
2018 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe
Price : $378.00   Sale $332.64

(98 Points) The 2018 Cos d'Estournel is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, aged in 50% new oak barriques. The alcohol weighs in at just over 14.5%. Sporting a deep purple-black color, it needs a lot of swirling to begin to unlock a powerful nose of crème de cassis, stewed plums, wild blueberries and chocolate-covered cherries, followed by nuances of Sichuan pepper, star anise, tree and clove oil, plus a waft of charcoal. The full-bodied palate is densely packed with taut, muscular black fruits and earthy layers, framed by super firm, ripe, grainy tannin's and seamless freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully earthy. A very impressive behemoth, this is going to need a good seven to 10 years to truly show its stuff and should drink for a good 40 years and beyond.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2017 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $319.50    Sale Price: $281.16
2016 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe Magnum
Price: $1023.00  Sale Price: $900.24
2014 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $300.00    Sale Price: $264.00
2012 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $270.00    Sale Price: $238.00           Quantity in Stock: 12
2010 Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe 3 Liter
Price: $2649.00  Sale Price: $ 2331.12
2010 Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe Magnum
Price: $1224.00  Sale Price: $ 1077.12
2010 Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe
Price: $435.00    Sale Price: $382.80           Quantity in Stock: 18
2009 Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe
Price: $675.00    Sale Price: $594.00

2008 Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe Magnum
Price : $675.00   Sale $594.00
2008 Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe
Price : $264.00   Sale $232.32
2005 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St Estephe 3 Liter
Price: $2649.00  Sale Price: $2331.12
2003 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St Estephe
Price: $365.00    Sale Price: $295.00           Quantity in Stock: 1
2000 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe 3 Liter
Price: $2508.00  Sale Price: $2207.00
2000 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe MAGNUM
Price: $1146.00  Sale Price: $1008.48
2000 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $365.00    Sale Price: $285.00           Quantity in Stock: 1

1982 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St. Estephe
Price: $575.00    Sale Price: $475.00           Quantity in Stock: 3