Chateau Cos D'Estournel Saint-Estephe 2020 750ml

Expert Review - Vintage 2020

Jeb Dunnuck 99 Points | Based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, the deep purple-hued 2020 Château Cos D'Estournel has, dare I say, an almost Lafite-like sense of elegance and class, offering gorgeous cassis and darker currants fruits as well as tobacco, lead pencil, acacia flowers, and graphite. Hitting 13.46 alcohol, with a pH of 3.9 and an IPT of 80, this flawless, full-bodied, incredibly elegant Saint-Estèphe has silky tannins, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. It will need a decade of cellaring to hit its prime drink window. Of the trilogy of 2018, 2019, and 2020, it's clearly my favorite (that’s splitting hairs), with a similarity to the 2016, and will most likely merit another point at maturity.

Decanter 99 Points | A first-growth level wine. With aristocratic ease it conveys nimble energy and sneaky sensuality. Pencil lead, white tobacco, cassis, juicy blackberry and cherry gorgeously delineated with refined tannins providing impressive structure for long-term cellaring. The pH is the highest since 2003, but you get neither heat nor imbalance. Impressive dry extract and rather 'normal' alcohol at 13.5% evokes a positively classic feel, leading to a subtle yet super-long finish. For owner Michel Reybier, the vintage marks 20 years of 'passion at the helm'. Comes encased in a uniquely gold-coloured engraved bottle with the phrase 'C’était Cos sinon rien' - Cos or nothing else.

James Suckling 98 Points | A brooding and deep wine just on the nose, with blackcurrants, redcurrants, spices such as cardamom and nutmeg, as well as black truffles with earth. Complex. Full-bodied with fine yet chewy tannins, that are wonderfully interwoven. Very structured and long. Needs five to six years to come around. 62% cabernet and 38% merlot. Try after 2028.

Wine Enthusiast 96 Points | This wine's complex structure and powerful tannins are shot through with freshness. It is already impressive, the spice and black fruits in harmony with the texture. The wine will age well. Drink from 2027.

Winemaker Description 

The call of faraway lands. 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.