Triple 100-pt. Cos d’Estournel: Final Estate Release, Now Entering Its Drinking Window

WHY BUY:

This limited, 3-bottle set contains the final estate release of Château Cos d'Estournel's mammoth 2016 vintage, folks: the last chance to snare a triple 100-pointer that’s entering its peak drinking window and that also retains decades of cellar potential. Each set contains two bottles of the grand vin, one of only a handful of Bordeaux to earn 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, Vinous, and James Suckling, plus a bottle of Les Pagodes de Cos, from the same exceptional vintage. With remaining stocks exhausted at the château, this is likely the last opportunity to secure pristine, estate-sourced bottles of a 2016 vintage that combines power, precision, and maturity.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:

Three critics, three perfect scores. The Wine Advocate, James Suckling, and Vinous all arrived at 100 on the 2016, with the latter calling it a wine that “amazed,” with "pixelated black fruit" on the nose and "sublime balance” on the palate. Les Pagodes de Cos garnered rare enthusiasm and joy for a second wine: a "full-bodied, layered and powerful” red, Suckling wrote, with "very deep and intense fruit character, yet rich tannins to back it all up."

OUR TASTING NOTES:

* Ten years on, the 2016 has started to relax and let people in. It’s a wine in full blossom. The nose is well-developed and gorgeous, with hints of cassis, blackberry, cedar, crushed violet, and graphite, and a barely perceptible (but undeniable) whiff of smoke in the background. On the palate it moves with the ease of a dancer. It’s big through the middle, and broad, but nimble through and through. The tannins have softened to brushed suede, and the finish is a thing of absolute beauty. A great wine, and also just a joy to drink. You won’t be able to resist this.

* The Pagodes surprises in every way; in a brown bag test, you’d never imagine this was a second wine, given its depth, concentration, and length, and it’s got that marvelous Saint-Estèphe backbone that gives it strength and definition. You can drink it tonight while the grand vin keeps evolving in the rack, and trust us, it won’t feel like settling.

THE STORY:

Saint-Estèphe sits at the northern end of the Médoc's great appellations, and Cos d'Estournel has long been its standard-bearer: a "Super Second" that stands comfortably alongside its First Growth neighbors. Under owner Michel Reybier, the estate has spent the past two decades pushing to improve in every direction. The most dramatic change came in 2008, with a gravity-fed vat room that lets the wine travel from harvest reception to bottling without a single pump. The payoff has been softer, more refined tannins. The vineyard work is just as exacting. Each vine-grower on the estate is assigned the same ten plots, roughly forty thousand vines, every year, and answers for them from pruning to harvest. This creates buy-in and a sense of ownership, and is one of those little things that, in the end, isn’t little.

WHAT TO PAIR THEM WITH:

Set the grand vin aside for a holiday meal or special occasion: a rack of lamb, a côte de boeuf for two, or a thick, dry-aged ribeye. The Pagodes is a wine built for the likes of cassoulet and braised short ribs.

FUN FACT:

The pagodas in the second wine's name are not a mere allusion; they’re real. Founder Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel crowned the château's cellars with pagoda-like towers, which is why, from a distance, one of Bordeaux's most renowned estates will have you wondering for a moment if you took a wrong turn and ended up in China.

OUR GUARANTEE:

As always, we only buy and source directly from the estate to ensure pristine provenance. These are the very last 2016s from the winery, and once they're gone, they’re gone for good. Secure your set today!