Château Cos d'Estournel 2022, St Estèphe
IN BOND
Delivery 2025
Appellation - St Estèphe
Owner - Bernard Arnault and Albert Frère
64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot.
Second wine – Les Pagodes de Cos
Annual production – 400,000 bottles
TASTING NOTES
The 2022 Cos d'Estournel was picked from 7 to 23 September at 33hL/ha and is aged in 50% new oak (one cannot imagine that being countenanced 15-20 years ago). It has an overtly floral nose with wilted violets infusing the precocious yet controlled black fruit. There's fine delineation, impressive focus and energy. The palate is smooth and silky on the entry with pliant, sculpted tannins. The acidity is well judged (3.79pH) with white pepper and a graphite element toward the persistent finish. Quintessential Cos d'Estournel, this wine will mature for many years, although the jury's out on whether it will surpass triumphs like the 2016 or 2019/20. 2030-2065
95/97
Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2023
Unique structure to this wine and very Cos with all the spices and dark fruits. Tobacco and cedar. It's starts off full-bodied and flavorful, but continues to unfold in an energetic and weightless way. Savory and primary. Al dente grapes here. Exciting and thought-provoking.
98/99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2023
The 2022 Cos d'Estournel, composed of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs quite a lot of shaking and swirling to unlock fragrant notes of warm cassis, redcurrant jelly, and black raspberries, leading to hints of rose oil, Indian spices, cedar chest, and sandalwood, plus a touch of crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate is very classic, with a solid backbone of firm, ripe tannins and impressive tension to support the taut, muscular black and red fruit layers, finishing very long and with remarkable purity. pH 3.79, TPI 90.
97/99+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, May 2023
Inky colour with violet edging, this is full of intense damson, incense, baked plum and black chocolate. A huge quantity of tannins but the texture is velvety, giving a creamy edge to the fruits, with contrast and freshness provided by orange zest and slate. Some of the old Merlot vines on gravel were picked early to tame them but generally the vineyard took the vintage in its stride, and almost 75% of production is in the 1st wine. Harvest September 7 to 23, 33hl/h yield, 90IPT, 50% new oak. Potential upscore in bottle.
97
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, May 2023
One of the finest wines to ever pass my lips, the 2022 Château Cos D'Estournel is a monument in the making. Based on 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this saturated ruby/purple-hued Saint-Estèphe offers a full-bodied, massive, opulent style as well as perfumed red, blue, and black fruits, ample spice, chocolate, graphite, and lead pencil-like aromatics, a stacked mid-palate, flawless balance, and a monster of a finish. An improved version of the 2009 (if that's possible), this is a legendary wine in the making. Hats off to Michel Reybier and technical director Dominique Arangoïts.
98/100
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, May 2023
