Wine Advisor
Cos d'Estournel, Blanc 2013
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2013 Cos d'Estournel Blanc is quire pretty and silky on the palate, with lovely energy and length. Grapefruit, crushed rocks and jasmine inform the tense, chiseled finish. Today, the Blanc is a little bit raw and in need of further aging, but it offers solid potential. The Blanc emerges from a property located 20 miles north of Cos itself that also supplies the fruit for the Goulée.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(76% sauvignon blanc and 24% semillon): Good pale color. Captivating aromas of stone fruits, lemon, iodine and sage. Very fresh on entry, then ripe and glyceral in the middle, conveying an impression of strong dry extract. Very sauvignon but the semillon gives it added complexity. Finishes juicy and long, with a repeating gooseberry nuance. Made at Goulée, this is the northernmost vineyard of white grapes in the Médoc. The vines were grafted onto 25-year-old cabernet sauvignon vines that already had a deep root system but that failed to ripen properly in this very cool microclimate. The estate likes the semillon here as it adds complexity depth and ageability but they also say their white wine is very hard to taste when young.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Chateau Cos d'Estournel Blanc, a blend of 76% Sauvignon Blanc and 24% Semillon with just 7% new oak, has a simple citrus peel and grapefruit bouquet. The palate is well balanced with fine tension and acidity. This is one of the best white Cos d'Estournel that I have tasted in terms of freshness and vitality. Perhaps one of the best white from the estate? Tasted April 2014.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Only 7,000 bottles of this dry white Bordeaux were made from a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon. Revealing lots of honeyed grapefruit, lemon zest and metallic-like minerality, this crisp, medium-bodied, beautifully perfumed and intense white can be enjoyed over the next 5-6 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2013 Cos d'Estournel Blanc has quite a pungent bouquet, the Sémillon more expressive at the moment, with lime, fresh grapefruit, honeysuckle and just a hint of paw paw. The palate is well balanced with racy acidity, here the Sauvignon Blanc comes back with gooseberry and nettle notes, although I feel this needs more time to absorb the oak on the finish that feels a little disjointed at the moment. Give this another 2-3 years in bottle before broaching.
About the Producer
Located in the village of Saint-Estephe on the left bank of Bordeaux, France, Chateau Cos d'Estournel (also known as Chateau Estournel) is a second growth in the 1855 classification and is now recognized as one of the "super second growths". The history of Château Estournel is long and special, dating back to the end of the 18th century, when Louis Gaspard d'Estournel inherited a plot of land called "Cos" in the village of Saint-Estephe in 1791. He thus began to develop his winery. The property is located on a gentle rocky slope, "Cos" meaning "little rocky hill" in French, and the founder's surname, "d'Estournel The name of the winery is the result of the founder's surname "d'Estournel". Louis had a passion for wine and devoted himself to improving the quality of the winery, selling it several times due to financial pressures, only to buy it back after paying off his debts. In 2000, Michel Reybier and his family purchased the estate and have continued to write a new chapter for Château d'Estourde with the same passion and innovation. The vineyards of Château d'Estour cover 100 hectares near the mouth of the Gironde River. The mild maritime climate, the uniform sunshine and the smooth air flow contribute to the excellent terroir. The vineyards are covered with deep soils rich in gravel and limestone, with excellent drainage. Currently, two-thirds of the vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, with the remainder dominated by Merlot and a smaller percentage of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines used for the production of the main wine is about 55 years, and there are also some valuable old vines left in the vineyard, which can be 80 to 100 years old. In 2008, the new vineyard of Château d'Estour was inaugurated, the first in Bordeaux to be fully equipped with the gravity-flow method of winemaking. This is the first winery in Bordeaux to rely entirely on gravity flow to transport the grapes and the wine. The winery is currently equipped with 84 temperature-controlled stainless steel fermenters of different sizes, which allow the vinification of different plots and lots of grapes separately. Château d'Estour produces wines in the typical style of Saint-Estèphe, with concentrated and elegant flavors, rich layers, firm bones and a combination of complexity and finesse. Its main wine, Chateau Cos d'Estournel (Saint-Estephe, France), is a regular high scorer on the lists of major wine critics and wine reviewers. In addition to the main wine, the estate currently produces two red wines, including the secondary wine Pagodes de Cos (Saint-Estephe, France), and one white wine.
