Critics have now had an opportunity to re-taste and re-score the whole 2016 Bordeaux vintage, and Cos d’Estournel 2016 has indeed lived up to all the hype! This monumental wine now holds no less than three perfect 100-point scores from Neal Martin, Wine Advocate and James Suckling, and has cemented its place in history as one of the greatest wines ever to have been made in St. Estèphe.
It is no exaggeration that this wine is a contender for being the finest Bordeaux wine of modern times.
This is muscular yet so well defined and toned. Full-bodied with deep and dense fruit on the palate, yet powerful and rich at the same time. So much sandalwood and blackberry character. Chewy and rich at the finish. This is a warm and generous wine, but the alcohol is just over 13 degrees. Not that high. Love the finish. Extravagant. Magical. Try from 2025.
Reviewer Name: James Suckling
Review Date: 8th December 2019
The 2016 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc aged in 65% new and 35% two-year-old French oak for 15 months. Bottled in July 2018, it is deep garnet-purple colored and starts off a little closed and reticent, opening out slowly and seductively to reveal beautiful lilacs, rose hip tea, crushed stones and camphor nuances over a core of crème de cassis, kirsch, wild blueberries and mocha plus wafts of incense and wood smoke. The palate is simply electric, charged with an energy and depth of flavors that seem to defy the elegance and ethereal nature of its medium-bodied weight, featuring super ripe, densely pixelated tannins that firmly frame the myriad of fruit and floral sparks, finishing with epic length. Just. Magic.
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2068
Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Review Date: 30th November 2018
The 2016 Cos d’Estournel was a bona fide showstopper out of barrel, the best that I had encountered in over 20 years of visiting the estate during en primeur, so my expectations were piled high when I returned to find out how it performs in bottle. Deep, almost opaque in color, it sports a very intense but broody bouquet with fathomless deep black fruit tinged with blueberry and violet. The aromas almost seem to envelop the senses. The palate is medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannin that I have never witnessed in any other vintage of Cos d’Estournel. There is a beguiling symmetry to this Saint-Estèphe, as well as unerring mineralité. The persistent, tobacco-tinged finish can be felt 60 second after the wine has departed. This is a monumental, benchmark Cos d’Estournel that will give not years but decades of pleasure, though I suspect it will close down for a period in its youth, hence my drinking window. 13.07% alcohol.
Drinking Window: 2030 - 2070
Reviewer Name: Neal Martin
Review Date: 18th January 2019
The grand vin 2016 Cos d'Estournel checks in as 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc that saw 70% new French oak. One of the more seamless, pure, elegant versions of this cuvée out there, it boasts a saturated purple color as well as a monster nose of pure crème de cassis, gravelly, rocky minerality, tobacco leaf, crushed violets, and lead pencil shavings. One of those “iron fists in a velvet glove” wines, with full-bodied richness and beautiful structure that’s covered by thrilling levels of fruit and texture, it stays tight, compact, and incredibly focused on the palate. It’s already brilliant given its purity of fruit and balance, but it deserves a decade of bottle age and will keep for 4-5 decades.
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2064
Review Date: 28th February 2019
The form, richness, ripeness and depth of flavour are all clearly on display here. Just bottled, it's extremely different in character to the 2015 vintage; it’s hard to believe they're just one year apart. Harvesting finished in mid-October, the latest on record bar 2001. It is excellent quality, and I look forward to attacking this wine once it has started to really show itself. We need to be patient for a good while longer, but this should run and run. Right now it's the liquorice, slate and pulsating walls of vibrant tannins that are at the fore. There's a precision to the layers of fruit and a touch of salinity on the finish. Succulent is really the best word to sum this wine up - I loved it during en-primeur and perhaps it nudges even higher now.
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2050
Reviewer Name: Jane Anson
Review Date: 2nd July 2018
- Video
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- Details
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- Year 2016
- Colour Red
- Country France
- Region Bordeaux
- Sub Region Saint-Estephe
- Designation
- Classification
- Pack Size 3x75cl
- ABV 13.5°
- Drinking Window 2030 - 2070
- Drinking Recommendation Not Ready
- LWIN 100878820160300750
- Reviews (5)
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100 James Suckling
This is muscular yet so well defined and toned. Full-bodied with deep and dense fruit on the palate, yet powerful and rich at the same time. So much sandalwood and blackberry character. Chewy and rich at the finish. This is a warm and generous wine, but the alcohol is just over 13 degrees. Not that high. Love the finish. Extravagant. Magical. Try from 2025.
Reviewer Name: James Suckling
Review Date: 8th December 2019
100 Wine AdvocateThe 2016 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc aged in 65% new and 35% two-year-old French oak for 15 months. Bottled in July 2018, it is deep garnet-purple colored and starts off a little closed and reticent, opening out slowly and seductively to reveal beautiful lilacs, rose hip tea, crushed stones and camphor nuances over a core of crème de cassis, kirsch, wild blueberries and mocha plus wafts of incense and wood smoke. The palate is simply electric, charged with an energy and depth of flavors that seem to defy the elegance and ethereal nature of its medium-bodied weight, featuring super ripe, densely pixelated tannins that firmly frame the myriad of fruit and floral sparks, finishing with epic length. Just. Magic.
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2068
Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Review Date: 30th November 2018
100 VinousThe 2016 Cos d’Estournel was a bona fide showstopper out of barrel, the best that I had encountered in over 20 years of visiting the estate during en primeur, so my expectations were piled high when I returned to find out how it performs in bottle. Deep, almost opaque in color, it sports a very intense but broody bouquet with fathomless deep black fruit tinged with blueberry and violet. The aromas almost seem to envelop the senses. The palate is medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannin that I have never witnessed in any other vintage of Cos d’Estournel. There is a beguiling symmetry to this Saint-Estèphe, as well as unerring mineralité. The persistent, tobacco-tinged finish can be felt 60 second after the wine has departed. This is a monumental, benchmark Cos d’Estournel that will give not years but decades of pleasure, though I suspect it will close down for a period in its youth, hence my drinking window. 13.07% alcohol.
Drinking Window: 2030 - 2070
Reviewer Name: Neal Martin
Review Date: 18th January 2019
99 Jeb DunnuckThe grand vin 2016 Cos d'Estournel checks in as 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc that saw 70% new French oak. One of the more seamless, pure, elegant versions of this cuvée out there, it boasts a saturated purple color as well as a monster nose of pure crème de cassis, gravelly, rocky minerality, tobacco leaf, crushed violets, and lead pencil shavings. One of those “iron fists in a velvet glove” wines, with full-bodied richness and beautiful structure that’s covered by thrilling levels of fruit and texture, it stays tight, compact, and incredibly focused on the palate. It’s already brilliant given its purity of fruit and balance, but it deserves a decade of bottle age and will keep for 4-5 decades.
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2064
Review Date: 28th February 2019
98 DecanterThe form, richness, ripeness and depth of flavour are all clearly on display here. Just bottled, it's extremely different in character to the 2015 vintage; it’s hard to believe they're just one year apart. Harvesting finished in mid-October, the latest on record bar 2001. It is excellent quality, and I look forward to attacking this wine once it has started to really show itself. We need to be patient for a good while longer, but this should run and run. Right now it's the liquorice, slate and pulsating walls of vibrant tannins that are at the fore. There's a precision to the layers of fruit and a touch of salinity on the finish. Succulent is really the best word to sum this wine up - I loved it during en-primeur and perhaps it nudges even higher now.
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2050
Reviewer Name: Jane Anson
Review Date: 2nd July 2018
- Producer
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Chateau Cos d’Estournel’s name comes from its 19th century owner Louis Estournel. The chateau itself is unique, with its pagodas, elephant sculptures and bells inspired by Louis' trade missions to India. Always considered one of the top names in Saint Estephe, the wine is typically bold with great balance that expresses itself over decades. The Chateau recently recruited an exciting new winemaker, Aymeric de Gironde.
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Cos d'Estournel
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