Cos d'Estournel 2eme Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe 2010

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Cos d'Estournel unfurls slowly, measuredly, releasing delicate notes of dried mulberries, stewed plums and blackcurrant pastilles before giving way to notions of potpourri, black cherry compote and chocolate box plus touches of dried sage, tobacco and new leather. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid foundation of very firm, grainy tannins and very lively acidity supporting the remarkable intensity of tightly wound fruit layers, finishing very long and fragrant. Give it another 4-5 years in bottle and this will be stunning!

Stands head and shoulders above the 2009 at this point, here you get the creaminess and power of a great vintage, with tannins that head towards monster-territory, and yet there is real delicacy and hidden complexity here, gorgeous quality, brilliant stuff, exoistc, incense , cinnamon; 100% new oak.

The 2010 Château Cos D'Estournel is based on 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot that was pulled from just 55% of the total production and aged in 80% new French oak. Hitting 14.5% natural alcohol, this still dense purple-hued beauty offers extraordinary notes of blackcurrants, unsmoked tobacco, graphite, freshly sharpened pencils, and chocolate. Full-bodied, massively concentrated, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, it has building tannins, a skyscraper-like mouthfeel that opens up with time in the glass, and a great, great finish. Made in a much more focused, precise, and structured style compared to the more flamboyant 2009, it needs another 7-8 years of bottle age and will be a 50, 60, if not 75+ year wine.

There’s clarity and beauty to this wine as always with pure dark berry, stones and spices. Some clove too. Full body, firm and silky tannins and a long finish. Pure and precise wine with so much class. Try in 2020.

Darkly fragranced, with chocolate, blackcurrants and violets, ripe fruit and soft woody touches. Tense and compact, tannins with a lovely texture. Nice weight and balance. Silky and streamlined, polished and poised. Long, clean finish with a salty liquorice, tobacco mineral touch. Great structure, weight and definition.

This clearly has more balance than the 2009, and it remains extremely rich and powerful. It has great intensity, with lovely layers of liquorice and dark chocolate tempered by slate and smoked bracken, plus a silky texture that blows you away. It wasn't an easy vintage in its youth, primarily because it's a massive wine. The tannins are full, and this is one of the few vintages where you can hand-on-heart say it has zero end in sight, it will just keep on trucking. Even after all this time it needs another few years before softening, and it should be decanted a good three to four hours before drinking if it’s opened any sooner. 1% Petit Verdot makes up the blend.

Full, bright ruby. Superripe but vibrant nose offers liqueur-like cassis, graphite, mocha and exotic oak scents; smells thick! Then plush, dense, large-scaled and seamless, offering extraordinary breadth and a 3-D texture to its dark fruit, graphite and mineral flavors. This very modern style of Cos finishes with outstanding, building, palate-saturating persistence and utterly sweet tannins.

(a blend of 78% cabernet sauvignon, 19% merlot, cabernet franc 2% and 1% petit verdot; 3.51 pH; IPT 91; alcohol 14.5% alcohol; a 55% selection for the grand vin Saturated bright ruby. Captivating, intense aromas of dark berries, red cherry, mint and tobacco. Dense, sweet and fruity in the mouth if still a bit youthfully tight, with great purity to the flavors of red and dark berries, exotic herbs and licorice. Finishes smooth and extremely long, with wonderfully silky tannins. This very big wine will need plenty of time, but I have no doubt this will be remembered as a great Cos. Jean-Guillaume Prats pointed out that though the analytical numbers (IPT, alcohol, acidity) are very similar to those of the '09 Cos, the two wines could not be more different. When it comes to wine, he emphasized, the numbers do not tell the whole story. I should point out that the 2010 Cos contains only 19% merlot, down from the 33% of 2009—and merlot that had overripened at that.