Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2023

The Land

The name is Gascon, not French: "Cos" means hill of pebbles, and the hill in question sits at the southern edge of Saint-Estèphe, looking across the Jalle du Breuil stream at Château Lafite in Pauillac. The vineyard covers 100 hectares on two slopes and a central plateau rising to about 20 meters, which in the flat Médoc is enough to shed cold air and water. Gravel runs 6 to 7 meters deep before reaching clay and limestone, noticeably more gravel and less clay than most of Saint-Estèphe, and the estate has mapped 19 soil types across 72 parcels. The Gironde and nearby marshland moderate temperature swings, which the estate credits with helping the vines through the late heat of 2023. The Grand Vin comes from the oldest vines on the property, which average 55 years.

The Wine

The 2023 blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, and only 53% of the crop made the cut for the first wine. Heat waves hit from August 16 to 24 and again from September 3 to 10, and mildew pressure through a humid June forced early leaf-pulling and, on some Merlot, the first green harvest at Cos since 2008. Reds were picked from September 12 to 29. The team adjusted in the cellar: cuvaison shortened to about three weeks from the usual 30 days, cooler fermentations near 26°C, no crushing, and 12% press wine, less than in 2022. Aging is in 50% new oak. The result sits under 13% alcohol. Blackcurrant, graphite and cocoa, a thread of Asian spice typical of Cos, velvety tannin, and a long, fine-grained finish.

The People

Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel inherited vines on the hill in 1791 and spent decades building the estate around them. He sold wine as far as India, earned the nickname "Maharajah of Saint-Estèphe," and built the carved pagoda-topped chai that still makes Cos the most recognizable building on the Route des Châteaux. He was also among the first in Bordeaux to bottle and label his own wine. Cos was classified a second growth in 1855. Swiss entrepreneur Michel Reybier bought the estate in 2000 and in 2008 opened a gravity-flow cellar where wine moves between 84 stainless steel vats by lift tanks instead of pumps. The vineyard has been in conversion to organic farming since 2021, a process extended when new plots were added.

Food Pairing

Lean into the spice. Five-spice braised short ribs with star anise and a glossy soy reduction pick up the wine's exotic side while the tannin handles the fat. Roast Peking-style duck with scallions and hoisin works on the same logic. A Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes, cinnamon and toasted almonds gives the Merlot fruit something sweet and savory to meet. For a plainer route, a dry-aged ribeye with black pepper crust lets the Cabernet structure do the work. Saint-Estèphe red wine this complete is a bottle to buy in multiples: one for a milestone dinner soon, the rest for the decade after.