Chateau Cos d´Estournel 2020

DECANTER: "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."

JEB DUNNUCK: "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."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "A gorgeous, stylish wine, here you find a series of waves packed with blackberries, black plums, black cherries, smoke, licorice, dark chocolate, soy and an array of spices. Rich, deep and intense, the wine hits all the right notes as it melds power, fruit, freshness and elegance to create an opulent, velvety, silky finish that builds and expands as it hangs with you. This is so good now, it will be hard to wait to pull a cork. But its best days are all in the future. So, wait a bit and you will be amply rewarded with an incredible wine. Drink from 2028-2060."

WEINWISSER: "Dicht verwobenes Bouquet, edle Cassiswürze, Herzkirsche, exotische Hölzer und dunkle Mineralik. Am geradlinigen Gaumen seidige Textur, balancierte Rasse, straff, engmaschiges Tanninkorsett und muskulöser Körper. Im konzentrierten Finale mit schwarzbeerigen Konturen, tiefschürfender Terroirwürze und Olivenpaste. Beeindruckend, wie vor zwei Jahren! Die Formkurve zeigt hier weiter nach oben.

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, opaker Kern, zarte Randaufhellung. Anklänge von Heidelbeeren und Schokolade, einladendes Bukett, zarte Edelholznuancen im Hintergrund, ein Hauch von Orangenzesten. Kraftvoll, saftig, reife Kirschen, lebendige Säurestruktur, feine Tannine, zarte Mineralität, blättrig im Abgang. Noch etwas verschlossen und streng wirkend, wird von Reife profitieren."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2020 Cos d'Estournel is a bold, demonstrative wine, bursting with aromas of cassis, dark berries and plum liqueur mingled with exotic spices, burning embers and petals, framed by a generous application of creamy new oak. Full-bodied, broad and low acid/high pH in style, it's rich and extracted, with a layered, mid-palate and a long, clove-inflected finish. While it isn't anywhere near as extreme as the 2009, the 2020 does appear to mark a move back toward a more turbo-charged style after Cos d'Estournel's shift toward elegance, exemplified by the brilliant 2016—but perhaps that's merely an illusion created by the vintage?"

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Deep, purple-black colour. Profound wine with a mass of fruit and tannin. Gives little away at the moment. Broad and full on the palate then tightens to a long, persistent finish. Powerful but contained. Clearly loads of potential."

WINE SPECTATOR: " A broad, rich, enticing wine, built on a core of exotic mulberry and loganberry notes laced with black tea, spices and incense. Rounded through the finish, with the fruit cruising through under a suave gloss of toast. A real crowd-pleaser, with a luxurious feel that makes this hard to lay off of now. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2038. 13,000 cases made, 2,000 cases imported."