Stunning architecture from outside, impressive cellar from the inside, high-tech modern equipment, state of the art winery, great wines with personality. Summarizing in one sentence Cos in the Saint Estéphe commune of Bordeaux.

“When you get to the elephant, the gate will open automatically.” A quote from the Bordeaux Chateaux book by Flammarion, I really had to smile when I read this. It’s more then just the –usual- wow effect, when you get to the estate, you could wonder if perhaps you went through a “star gate” and got teleported to a to a different country or simply a different planet all together. The place has a distinct Oriental flair, with the pagodas, palm trees and the garden, a fusion of architecture from the East and chateaux like fortification. And this fairly tale of design which could well be in Ali Baba and the forty thieves a scene was just the outside.

St- Estèphe is the northern most appellation in the Haut Médoc district. Next door neighbour to Pauillac just divided by a small stream, the two communes’s which usually have the highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in their blends but also tend to be the heaviest and most full bodied. Beside the usual gravel on the left bank, there is a deep clay base as well which can delay ripening especially when the drainage is not sufficient. People reckon the acidity here is higher also then in the rest of the Medoc. After the 4-5 m of gravel would the clay base start, now this is interesting as it is in Cos´s case a pure and rich clay with a big surface, this can move easily when it’s dry or wet doesn’t matter much, it also regulates the hydric stress. Further lower you would find in St Estéphe a mix of clay and limestone and the lowest part would be limestone. As Dominique the technical manager was saying the lowest part is calcerous, great for Merlot.

The estate goes back in history to the founders, the Estournel family, originally came to Bordeaux from Quercy, the Cahors region. The word Cos comes from the Gascon word of caus, meaning slope of stones. The Estournel family used to breed horses in particular the Arabian stallions and always had a connection with India and China. The first Cru Bordeaux was actually Cos which got exported to India. Cos was served to kings and queens during the history, the Prats family was the owner of this estate until 1998. The new owner today is Michel Reybier while the general manager is Jean-Guillaume Prats. The winery has just under 70 ha of vines, planted with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 2%Cabernet Franc.
The wines are vinified in stainless steel tanks with a particular shape (squat size) and fermentation temperature should not go over 32°C at any stage. The Cabernet suits more the gravel and less clay soil while the Merlot got planted on the more limestone soil base.

Jean-Guillaume Prats the general manager received the group of MW students at the entrance and we headed straight to the tasting room to sample the “new born” vintage, 2009, before the en primeur campaign kicked off at the beginning of April. The 2006 just got finished two days ago, he said while he and his team was pouring a horizontal tasting of the 2009, Goulée, Pagodes de Cos (2nd wine of Cos from young vines below 20 years of age) and the Grand Vin, nr.1, Cos D´Estournel.

Jean Guillaume was explaining in 2009 mother nature was very kind, the vintage was embarrassingly perfect, cool and a lot of snow in the winter, killed off all the diseases, sunshine and rain when we they wanted it. Sense of balance and harmony, the 2009 similar to the 2005, 1982, 1947. High level of alcohol, huge amount of tannin and acidity, but it is all about the balance. If the tannins are high so should be the alcohol, in relation to it of course. Yields were kept low, 34 hl/ha while the second wine Pagode and Gouléet gets into 50% new barrel the Cos makes it to 80% of new oak. With a new wine, cask sample basically you assessing the potential of the wine, is there any bitterness, lack of ripeness while you not looking to enjoy it right away as it is far too young, you predicting the future based on the qualities of potential.

Jean Guillaume was explaining that the real change in the Bordeaux market came with the 1982 vintage. There was no real world market for Bordeaux in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s. The main market back then was France, the Benelux states and of course England. The Châteaux’s were costing more money then making, in the past vintage was very crucial while today there are no undrinkable vintages and the very worse case it will be modest or challenging. It is an investment, piece of art if you will, the value will be made of the generation. He compared it to a Picasso. While the real money is made when you sell the wine, but you don’t always have to you can leverage it as he was explaining, for instance with lower interest rates. And if I got his comparison right, he was saying in Napa the brand is more worth then the actual land as you can secure your grapes from other places as well.

Heading to the cellar another jaw dropping experience encountered us, Jean-Guillaume was saying this is the new part, it was finished in 2008, they were lacking space, today they are probably the only winery which has 100% gravity, all the wine making is done without pump, and no mechanical intervention takes place from harvest to bottling. Now this gravity bit is interesting.

So what happens after the grapes arrive? They come to a sorting table (mezzanies), after selecting/sorting them continue their way on electrical trolleys protected by SO2 and cold, to the stainless steel tanks, vat opens up and they fall in (they have 72 vats in total) it is a double skin temperature control stainless steel tank. Before the alcoholic fermentation a cold maceration happens for several days. To maintain precise tannins and the right extraction no pumping is used. But how can you transport you do the délestage (pumping over) without pumping? We will get to this in a second.

During this cap management procedure you have to take the wine out from the bottom of the vat and get it back on the top the pomace bit. It contributes mainly to the tannin and pigment diffusion. There is a little trick involved by avoiding pumping at Cos they use elevators. Outsmart gravity, they have on each side some elevators which can go up and down 13 meters, having a capacity of 80 hl/15 tonnes. The bleeding, délestage or usual pumping over happens with the elevators assistance. The juice is cleared by gravity, into the vats which have come down and the desired volume and ratio is taken out, the lift comes up again and the juice gets into the top of the rest. There is no magic behind this as Jean Guillaume was explaining, just because the operation is larger they had to employ a bit of another technique to overcome this.

Gravity is done since the 1900 in Bordeaux, the objection is the best expression of the terroir. Everything which can counterbalance the expression of the grape we fight against it-said Mr. Prats. The stainless steel tanks are fitted with a sort of glass like (it’s not glass!) laser made precise inner, where no tartaric precipitation can happen, stays for ever and there is no flavour impact.

I asked Jean Guillaume about the electric charge. Which seemed to be an interesting topic in stainless steel vats (needs further research on my side), he said as long as the soil earthed against electrical charges (like they have in the winery for instance) it shouldn’t be a problem.

After leaving the bright fermentation room and walking through the impressive cellars of Cos, things became a bit darker and once again a different universe opened up, reminded me of one of these scenes in Star Wars. Dark, black background where ever you looked but the barrels where shining with their light brown colour. A welcomed contrast like the lightsaber was lighting up and having the dark galaxy in the background, I might get carried away now a bit, it certainly was a fascinating place to be.
We were well looked after all night long not only surrounded by good wine and later even more and fantastic food but Cos provided “security” people in the cellar who guided us along the visit.

Some more impressive wines awaited us in the grand hall, which used to be part of the wine cellar. I sat next to Dimitri during our great dinner he is the son in law of Michel Reybier. He explained the story on the elephants as there was always a connection to the Orient, and they’re a symbol of being faithful it became the trademark of the Chateaux, Sempre Fidelis.

The line up of the tasting was as at least impressive as the chateaux, Riesling by Humbrecht, ”Clos Saint Urbain” 2005, Solaia 2006 by Antinori, Vega Sicilia Unico 1998, Cos 2003 and last but not least Hétszölö Imperial 2001 5 puttonyos aszú.

As Jean Guillaume was saying “we lost against the Italian and Spanish in football”, hence the selection of the wines Antinori, Vega Sicilia. A good loss after all, at least for us, to compare some great wines in this line up. And the Hungarian wine? They just acquired last year the estate.
It was in the headlines when Michel Reybier wanted to buy Chateau Montelena in the Napa, but this deal never went ahead, they instead decided to move into the world famous wine region of Tokaj Hegyalja and buy Hétszölö from Grand Millésimes de France (owner of Chateau Beychevelle). Hétszölö is a special estate, the headquarter in the town Tokaj and if you do make a visit to Tokaj you must visit the cellar which once belonged to the prince of Rákoczi Ference II and the last Hungarian King Szapolyai got the crown here as well.

Tokaj and the way of making the wines is special. It cannot and should not be compared to anything else. Dominique knows the area fairly well, speaks good Hungarian he was saying that 2000 wasn’t such a great vintage for sweet wines, aszú berries lacked acidity, 2003 was much better despite the heat, 2004, 2006 and even 2008 was exciting. Not only the terroir including the unique varieties but as said the technique (base wine/must + aszú berries/paste) is what makes the wines unmistakable unique and special at the same time. One and only.
I tried to find out from Dimitri how much they actually paid for the estate, but he wasn´t going to tell me. He only said, it can be looked up in the papers, it was somewhere in the news.
Now I couldn’t find the figures for this purchase but just on the side I got other numbers from previous investments in the regions. I got it francs if right (I assume FF stands for it), Oremus got purchased by the Alvarez family (owns Vega Sicilia) for 50 million FF (with a conversion rate of 1 EUR =6.55 FF), 7.6 million EUR. Királyudvar`s investment was around 4 million USD.
It was estimated that around 2000 the total foreign investment in the Tokaj region was over 30 million EUR.

Back to Cos, Dominique was explaining the 2003 Cos vintage was a very unusual one. Strange in away as the flowering happened early, veraison was before the middle of July (usually beginning of August), he was already eating berries in the vineyard on the 15th July. He recalled smelling a sort of jamyness in the vineyard, never happened before, such high temperature were in place. The high temperature burned of the malic acid and he was slightly worried how the wine is going to end up, the harvest started on the 13th September took 15 days and it was vinified in the big room where we had our dinner, in concrete vats with rather simply equipment. The skin contact was rapid and rather short 20 days, but the wines ended up still fresh and balanced, thanks to the clay soil as well, pH was around 3,7 before bottling.
When it comes to assemblage he quoted Emile Peynaud saying a good blend is like 1 + 1 makes 3.

Well in the case of Cos it is stunning architecture with high tech equipment, great terroir equals fantastic wines.

Tasted wines
Goulée 2009
Generic Medoc, not vinified at the Chateau, old vines Cabernet Sauvignon, deep colour, slightly closed nose on the start, ripe fruit on the palate, full impact on the palate, late picking, warmer maceration temperature, bold and round but fairly big grip on the palate, high alcohol, juicy, ripe, and very promising.
Drink 2018-2030

Pagodes de Cos  2009
It was the perfect vintage as Jean Guillaume Prats was saying, this one heavy on Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), everything is high and also in balance, polyphenols, acidity, alcohol. Pretty floral notes on the nose, very elegant and refined soft red and black fruit combination, showing finesse, elegance yet full bodied.
Drink 2017-2035

Cos d´Estournel  2009
The first wine of the winery, again heavy on Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), deep colour, rich on the nose, ripe, pure but plenty of weight. Very polished and modern picture. Rich dense on the palate, high alcohol, high tannins, and crisp at the same time, as Jean-Guillaume was saying everything is high in this wine, great note, fantastic finish.
Drink 2020-2060

Tasted wines with the dinner Menu

Humbrecht, Riesling ”Clos Saint Urbain” 2005
Fabulously ripe nose, with a rich honey, silky mineral character full of ripe stone fruit, maybe even a touch of botrytis. Dry, crisp, touch of petrol, utterly complex and with a myriad of fruit peach, apricot, ripe apple, quince, hint of spice, minerality and elegant perfume. Full on and a very long finish, fantastic.

Antinori Solaia 2006
Complex and expressive nose, eucalyptus, mint, with a rich spicy overtone. Fantastic start on the palate with a lot of weight on the mid palate, silky soft texture, ripe, great tannins, notes of tobacco, black fruit, effortless and with finesse, great finish.

Vega Sicilia Unico 1998
Deep and dense nose, mint black fruit, spice lingering on the nose yet a wine which develops over time, huge concentration tide up. Deep tannins, elegant yet powerful with attention to the detail, very precise and full on. Rich and great wine…

Cos 2003
2003 a difficult vintage, the threat was real to have little or no malic acid at all, the high temperature burned it. Berries ripened very early, skin contact of 20 days, rapid and intense, yet a fresh character, the nose opens steadily with some bacon, black fruit character and a touch of jamminess. Dense on the palate full of ripe fruit yet plenty of eucalyptus notes there too, very good length.

Hétszölö Imperial 2001 5 puttonyos aszú
Elegant nose, marmalade, quince, honey, peach mandarin. Great acidity on the palate, sweet but never cloying bit of a light weight, yet very elegant, mandarin, peach with a touch of astringency (tannin), good finish, very enjoyable sweet wine, medium body.

Tags: cos estournel, gravity

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