Beef
Critic Scores
Intense, with a roiling core of luscious loganberry, blackberry and black currant fruit. Singed spice, apple wood and black tea accents emerge steadily on the finish. Has a rare combination of density and precision. Will cruise in the cellar. Best from 2020 through 2035. 14,000 cases made. -James Molesworth, Wine Spectator
The 2014 Cos d'Estournel is destined to turn into a very lovely Saint Estphe. This bottle was actually tasted over a period of a few hours. The word "cool" is one that reappeared in my vernacular now that the wine is in bottle. The estate is known for producing a more luxuriant and extravagant bouquet compared to its Saint Estphe peers, yet this vintage is streamlined (to re-appropriate my original descriptor). It's unashamedly focused and delineated. It delivers intense blackberry and bilberry scents, again with a touch of iris. The palate is beautifully balanced with not a single hair out of place. The acidity is well judged and I noticed that after two or three hours, there was a faint vein of graphite that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, no surprise given that it lies just across the border. It will require several years in bottle for the tannins to mellow, but the result will be a very attractive, quite correct, fresh and precise Cos d'Estournel that will bestow two or three decades of drinking enjoyment. Tasted February 2017. -Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
The 2014 Cos dEstournel has another intense bouquet with blackberry, graphite, tobacco and mint aromas, almost Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin that exert plenty of grip. This is surfeit with sappy black fruit, graceful and tensile with a beautiful, svelte finish that fans out gloriously. There is real panache to this wine, persistent and satisfying, the aftertaste of graphite and tobacco extraordinarily long. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. -Neal Martin, Vinous
