Cos d'Estournel 1996 1800cl

Producing some of the greatest wines in the Médoc, Château Cos d'Estournel is undoubtedly the premier estate in Saint-Estèphe. The all-encompassing 91-hectares of vineyards surround the majestic, almost oriental domaine on the hill of Cos. Founder, Louis Gaspard d’Estournel was better known as “the Maharajah of Saint-Estèphe” in the 1800s because of his distant conquests, with his wines reaching as far as India. He built these exotic pagodas we see today in celebration of his successes. The property currently belongs to French multi-millionaire Michel Reybier, who has upheld the founding values of excellence and has pushed forth the quality even more so since 2000. Reybier’s impressive investments in cutting-edge technologies has brought the estate to new heights. The prominent vinification techniques include must-concentration, malolactic in barrel and new oak for ageing. The Cos d’Estournel is an age-worthy robust but harmonious wine that builds in intensity and complexity with ten years’ time. The second wine was initially labeled Marbuzet, which itself is a Cru Bourgeois, but it is now bottled as Les Pagodes de Cos. In 1852, he had to sell due to his overwhelming debts. The château was then sold twice more before the Ginestet family purchased it in 1917. Their ancestors, the Prats family retained it until 2000 when they sold it to Michel Reybier, a French multi-millionaire, who has spent considerable sums to carry forth Louis Gaspard d'Estournel's original avant garde style and to push forth the quality of the wine. Today, it arguably produces the grandest wine in St. Estèphe though some would argue that neighbouring Montrose surpasses it.