Château Cos d'Estournel 2025

Vivid pink colour in the glass. Plush, plump and chewy yet serious in a tight, cool blue fruit and graphite way. Lots of gravelly minerality keeps this quite focused and straight but with lovely fine layers of flavour and fruitiness. Classic in the sense of lower alcohol but still with ripe tannins – a nice combination. Still shy I’d say for Cos, definitely not the showy more exuberant style you can find. Refined but well built and definitely not overripe. Dominique Arangoits, technical director of Cos d'Estournel said 2025 was a: ‘Very interesting vintage, the dry situation arrived early so the vines adapted better. Easter brought three days of rain with 115mm on 20 April which proved vital, followed by helpful rain at the end of August. We started harvest on 3 September – our earliest ever. Nice quality of tannins and colour – we have the benefits of a hot season but with cool nights too, low alcohol and nice quantity of fresh fruit. It’s a mix of styles – ripeness and precocity of 2022 and freshness of 2016. Maybe a bit like 2020.’ 3.68pH. 65% grand vin production.

Dark in hue, without fanfare, the aromatics showcase black cherries, flowers, licorice, smoke, raspberry, and spice-filled nuances. The palate is even better, with a vivid display of sweet, energetic, lingering fruits, licorice, oceanic influences, dark chocolate, and Indian spices. There is richness, density, lift, and length. Balanced and harmonious, this wine will offer an extraordinary tasting experience. Give it a few years in the bottle before pulling a cork. The wine comprises 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot. 13.25% ABV, 3.68 pH. The harvest took place September 3 - September 19, making this the earliest harvest in the history of the estate. Yields were 29 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is aging in 50% new, French oak barrels. The Grand Vin was produced from 50% of the harvest. Drink from 2030 - 2065. 97-99 Pts

Incense and sandalwood aromatics, combines the density and concentration of a hot vintage with the freshness and balanced alcohols of a cooler vintage, meaning both weight and lightness of touch (this is something you will hear a lot with the 2025 vintage but rarely find in reality). A real breadth and wide spectrum of possibilities are contained here, a little austere right now but these dark berry fruits and firm tannins are waiting to bloom with ageing. 3.68pH. 50% new oak. Harvest was September 3, earliest since the Reybier era (they began September 7 on 2022, and also in 1989) through to September 19. Last year in organic conversion.

The bouquet of Cos d’Estournel first shows its depth and identity through nuances of black and red berries, enhanced by a touch of eucalyptus. With aeration, it sharpens its definition even further, highlighting freshness with notes of raspberry followed by licorice sticks. On the palate, the wine follows the same progression as the nose. It begins by laying down a solid framework before giving way to detail. It gains breadth and power, ultimately revealing remarkable intensity along with structuring acidity. A well-composed Cos, with a magnificent ability to excel equally in freshness, subtlety, and drive. 98-99

Deep, dark color. Intense, refined, fruity, pure and complex nose. Notes of spice, dried fruits and cream emerge when the glass is swirled. Broad on the attack and complex on the mid-palate, with a fine richness coating the palate and tremendous power; the wine melts on the tongue. It develops slowly, long, slightly tannic, yet with a breathtaking finish—continually powerful, beautifully enveloping and above all flavorful. Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot. Alcohol content: 13.25% – pH: 3.68 – IPT: 81 (above average). Yield: 29 hl/ha. Ageing: 50% in new oak barrels.

Fascinating once again, both expressive and restrained at the same time; deep, multi-layered, warm on the fruit yet cool in its expression; the palate confirms what the nose suggests—focused, precise, of great elegance, with a calm, controlled power that only truly great wines possess; the tannins are silky, the fruit is crisp, and the finish is long and mineral-driven. A monumental wine full of tension, its quality beyond any doubt. It is in no way inferior to the outstanding 2023.