Region: St. Estephe, Bordeaux, France

Varietal: 43% Merlot, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot

Tasting notes: The second wine of Cos d'Estournel is powerfully packed with tannins and dark ripe fruit. It is enormously rich and intense while keeping a fine smooth texture. Like the Grand Vin, this is not an exotic or flamboyant Cos d'Estournel, but no way would you describe it as lean. There is an easy-drinking approachable nature to this Les Pagodes de Cos, without precluding it of precision and length, whilst the graphite note pops up right at the finish and on the aftertaste.

Producer: Chateau Cos d'Estournel is a Grand Cru vineyard located in St. Estephe. Its oriental facade is adorned with three pagoda turrets, all cast in a soft golden sandstone. Cos d’Estournel is ideally situated at the heart of an undulating landscape in the northern Médoc. The estate’s rolling contours served as inspiration for its name; ”cos” is derived from the word for “hill of pebbles” in the old Gascon dialect. A near miracle in geographic and geologic terms, Cos d’Estournel benefits from an unparalleled combination of soils and exposures. This wealth of natural variations fully expresses itself in the estate’s wines, which are among the world’s most highly reputed.

Vineyard and Winemaking: Chateau Cos d'Estournel today covers 170 acres separated from Chateau Lafite, along the southern edge, by the stream between St. Estephe and Pauillac. The gravelly soil, over a flint, limestone and silicate subsoil low in nitrogen, has eroded over centuries to form steep ridges which perfectly drain the vineyards. The vineyards are planted 60 percent in Cabernet Sauvignon vines, 2 percent of Cabernet Franc, and 38 percent in Merlot. Naturally, the percentage of Cabernet or Merlot in the composition of each vintage depends on the climate which favors one grape variety or the other. Matured in 50% new oak.