Château Cos d'Estournel 2016

Tasting Notes and Advice for Château Cos d'Estournel 2016 Blanc

Tasting

Appearance
A yellow robe with green highlights.

Nose
The nose reveals mineral aromas of gunflint, accompanied by notes of candied lemon and white-fleshed fruit. Cos d'Estournel Blanc 2016 displays a precise style and remarkable freshness.

Palate
The palate is airy and beautifully balanced, even with a generous richness, all underpinned by a sensation of biting into the grape itself. There is an impression of fullness, rounded out by subtle chalky notes. The wine finishes splendidly, both lively and persistent. A truly exemplary achievement for a vintage in which dry white wines could easily have lacked verve.

A chiselled, delicate white wine from the Médoc

The estate

Standing majestically on the hill of Saint-Estèphe in the northern Médoc, Château Cos d'Estournel commands attention. Resembling a true Maharajah's palace, the château and its pagodas surprise and captivate the eye. In 1791, Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel inherited several hectares of vineyards and set about building the estate. An adventurer who had travelled the world, his taste for the exotic and the Orient gave Château Cos d'Estournel its architecture, so singular within the Médoc. Owned by Michel Reybier since 2000, Château Cos d'Estournel continues to shine within the Saint-Estèphe appellation, joining the ranks of the world's greatest wines through a unique style in which the pursuit of beauty and excellence remains a constant quest.

The vineyard

Château Cos d'Estournel is a 2nd Growth Classified Growth of the Saint-Estèphe appellation, which also produces a dry white wine under the Bordeaux Blanc Sec appellation. The vineyard boasts a terroir typical of the appellation, with extremely clay-rich and gravelly soils. The vines are quite old and possess deep roots, allowing them to admirably withstand climatic challenges, including drought and heatwaves.

The vintage

The year 2016 was marked by intense summer heat and drought. While the drought could have jeopardised the harvest, the estate's exceptional terroir and the technical team's remarkable expertise made it possible to craft a truly great wine, free of any flatness or heaviness on the palate.

Winemaking and ageing

Cos d'Estournel Blanc is aged in barrels, 7% of which are new.

Grape Varieties

75% Sauvignon Blanc
25% Sémillon.