Chateau Cos d'Estournel Saint-Estephe Bordeaux France 2019 (13.5% ABV) — 94
AJ | Dense, saturated black-red. A sweeter, more beguiling style of St Estephe as ever: more spice and elephants. Very attractive, serene, harmonious and well-crafted: great purity and nuance here. Montrose is purer and more fruit-centred; this brings you all the arabesques and curlicues. But in this vintage very subtly done, without the exaggeration we have sometimes seen here: fine craftsmanship. .. and just a gorgeous glass of wine to smell. On the palate, it is lighter than Montrose, without the same drilling insistence of fruit core; there is more allusive distraction here, which is the way Cos has to be. It has maintained its purity nonetheless, and the tannins are splendid and amply allusive in their own right. Cos at its best: a carnival of a claret, but exciting in every detail. In the end, the extra point goes to Montrose since you just can't argue with profundity of fruit, but this is a magnificent Cos for all that.Drink Dates: 2025 - 2040. 94
MS | Dense and closed to smell, minerally aromatic above all at the moment; a concentrated medium full wine, freshly defined, finely and firmly tannic, a lovely long term balance; rich, ripe-yet-dry in flavour, long and gravel imbued, an elegant, composed, restrained density of flavour, a beautifully poised Cos. Classically complete, very refined, with a tannin texture which will make it accessible relatively early at its Second Growth level. Beautiful wine. Drink Dates: 2035 - 2060+. 94