2021 Château Cos D'Estournel

The 2021 Cos d'Estournel is a wine of real breadth and volume. It is also quite a departure from recent vintages in that strong Cabernet aromatics are very much front and center. Cedar, tobacco, dried herbs, menthol and licorice lend notable complexity to the bouquet. I expect the 2021 will need time to be at its best. Cos is usually much more alluring in its youth than the reticent but hugely promising 2021.

- Antonio Galloni (04/2022)

Alluring from the get-go, with boysenberry and creamed plum flavors that offer an almost exotic edge, backed by liberal accents of rooibos tea, mulling spices and sweet tobacco. Caressing in the end, this also shows a chalky spine that's better integrated than most in this vintage, plus a pretty, lingering curl of alder. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2037. 14,500 cases made.

- J.M.

The 2021 Cos d'Estournel is very promising, offering up rich aromas of dark berries, plums, exotic spices, loamy soil and rose petals, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless palate that's impressively vibrant and concentrated, with powdery tannins, bright acids and a long, penetrating finish. Only 53% of the production made it into the grand vin, and the blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Technical director Dominique Arangoïts reports that Cos was spared by frost and coulure at flowering, harvesting between September 23 and October 4, and fermenting a touch hotter than has been the case in recent years, at around 28-29 degrees Celsius.

- William Kelley (04/2022)