Cos d'Estournel 2014 (750ML)

"94 Points, Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2014 Cos d'Estournel is destined to turn into a very lovely Saint Estèphe. This bottle was actually tasted over a period of a few hours. The word ""cool"" is one that reappeared in my vernacular now that the wine is in bottle. The estate is known for producing a more luxuriant and extravagant bouquet compared to its Saint Estèphe peers, yet this vintage is streamlined (to re-appropriate my original descriptor). It's unashamedly focused and delineated. It delivers intense blackberry and bilberry scents, again with a touch of iris. The palate is beautifully balanced with not a single hair out of place. The acidity is well judged and I noticed that after two or three hours, there was a faint vein of graphite that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, no surprise given that it lies just across the border. It will require several years in bottle for the tannins to mellow, but the result will be a very attractive, quite correct, fresh and precise Cos d'Estournel that will bestow two or three decades of drinking enjoyment. Tasted February 2017."" 3/17"

96 Points, Neal Martin, Vinous: "The 2014 Cos d'Estournel has another intense bouquet with blackberry, graphite, tobacco and mint aromas, almost Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin that exert plenty of grip. This is surfeit with sappy black fruit, graceful and tensile with a beautiful, svelte finish that fans out gloriously. There is real panache to this wine, persistent and satisfying, the aftertaste of graphite and tobacco extraordinarily long. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting." 3/18

"95+ Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous: ""The 2014 Cos d'Estournel is rich, powerful and seductive, with notable unctuousness but a medium-bodied frame. Plum, blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate and lavender notes flesh out in an effortless, sumptuous wine that will provide superb drinking for the next few decades. The 2014 needs time to shed some baby fat, but it is quite impressive, even in the early going. The blend is 65 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 33 % Merlot and 2 % Cabernet Franc."" 2/17 "

"98 Points, James Suckling: ""If you want to know what St.-Estèphe smells like, this is it. Aromas of spices, black truffles, forest floor, dried strawberries and tar. It's full-bodied yet pinpointed on the palate with fabulous density and richness. It's opulent but in a reserved and checked way. This needs at least five or six years to come around, but it's already fantastic. What harmony and structure. Try in 2022 if you can keep your hands off it!"" 2/17"

97 Points, Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast: "This is an immensely dense wine that is going to be a classic. The dark tannins are still lined with wood aging but that will go because the fruit underneath is also just as dense and intense. Blackberry, black plum and damson plum give power and sweetness. This is a great wine with huge potential. Drink from 2028." 4/2017

96 Points, Jane Anson, Decanter: "Aymeric de Gironde was still director at the time (leaving in 2017 to head over the river to Troplong Mondot) with Dominique Arangoïts as technical director (he remains there today). Together they produced a wine of great restraint in 2014, showing fine touches of cassis and black spice from the first moment, exotic and enticing, with dark chocolate, charcoal and slate hints. It's extremely present without being overpowering, with smooth, elongated tannins. This is a classy wine that's built to last, caressing and cajoling its way through the palate, and it absolutely lives up to its promise at en primeur. Contemporary oaking, but with finesse and restraint." 5/2018

95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com: "The grand vin 2014 Cos D'Estournel is gorgeous, and I think a step up over the 2015. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, this deep, inky-colored 2014 boasts a gorgeous perfume of ripe currants and cassis fruits, loads of chocolaty oak, cedar and scorched earth, full-bodied richness, and building, firm, yet ripe tannin. It's certainly one of the gems in the vintage, as well as one of the more structured, opulent and age-worthy. Give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following two to three decades." 11/2017