2013 Cos d'Estournel
By Chateau Cos d'Estournel
2013 Cos d'Estournel from Chateau Cos d'Estournel, St-Estephe, Bordeaux
The 2013 vintage from the venerable Chateau Cos d'Estournel conveys a narrative of resilience and skillful craftsmanship. This particular year posed a challenge to vintners across Bordeaux, with unpredictable weather requiring diligent vineyard management and precise decision-making at harvest. Yet, the skilled hands at Chateau Cos d'Estournel sculpted an exemplar wine that remains a compelling proposition for discerning investors.
A Testament to Tenacity
In the glass, the 2013 Cos d'Estournel exudes a vibrant ruby hue with an enticing bouquet of dark cherries and subtle earthy notes. The winter's rigorous trials gave way to a late flowering, which was then followed by a mercifully warm and dry July and August. Harvesting was a race against time before the onset of autumn rains, but the precision exercised ensured that each grape reached the cellar in optimal condition.
Complexity and Investment Potential
The palate reveals a rich tapestry woven with blackcurrant, tobacco, and spice—a testament to the St-Estephe terroir's profundity even in less-than-ideal vintages. Oak ageing has lent a complementary framework of vanilla tones that accentuate rather than dominate. The wine's through-line is one of graceful power balanced with commendable acidity that presages a structure primed for maturation.
Despite the climatic vicissitudes of 2013, this offering from Chateau Cos d'Estournel emerges as a sleeper hit—its depth and complexity ensured by stringent selection and vinification processes. Its current evolution suggests a window of opportunity for investment, promising further sophistication as the tannins mellow with cellar age.
An asset in any investor's portfolio, the 2013 Cos d'Estournel from Chateau Cos d'Estournel encapsulates an expression of St-Estephe's potential to triumph over nature's uncertainty—an aptitude that astutely mirrors the foresight required in fine wine investment. This storied vintage stands as proof that even in less heralded years, greatness can be achieved through resilience and mastery.
Market price (USD)
$1,270.00
12x75cl
Highest score
92
POP score
86.67
Scores and tasting notes
Blended of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2013 Cos d'Estournel opens with notes of sautéed herbs, roast beef, potpourri, eucalyptus and crushed rocks over a core of redcurrant jelly, crushed blackcurrants, kirsch and violets. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers lovely freshness and a good amount of depth, textured by a chewy frame and finishing long and mineral tinged.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate, 30 November 2018
The smallest crop since 1991 has produced a 2013 Cos d'Estournel composed of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The wine-s attractive dark ruby color is followed by decent fruit on the attack, but then narrows out to reveal an elegant but superficial wine that needs to be drunk over the next 7-8 years. Yields were a striking low 27 hectoliters per hectare.
Robert Parker Jr - Wine Advocate #214 Aug 2014