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  • Country ranking ?

    978
  • Producer ranking ?

    27
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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The Story

The call of faraway lands. As mysterious and intriguing as a lone adventurer returning from a solitary sail, Cos d’Estournel is slow to reveal itself. Little by little, it evokes stories of distant places, market stalls brimming with unfamiliar fruits, spices and wares, village festivities warmed by the joy of revelers and the setting sun, and sumptuous visions of ladies and their voluptuous curves. A myriad of scents, colors and tastes appeal...

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Wine Information

1961 was to become the decade’s and one of the century’s most adored vintages of Bordeaux red wines

Despite a frost in March, the growing season started on time and well. The frost combined with weak pollination caused by poor weather reduced the crop volume significantly.  July’s rains gave way to drier weather in August, and September bathed Bordeaux in beautiful sunshine. The grapes were small, thick-skinned and extremely concentrated,...

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Vintage 1961

1961 - the greatest Bordeaux vintage of all time?

I am writing this during the primeur campaign and I notice that Bordeaux château owners and merchants have been exceptionally quiet this year. I've been following this part of the market remotely for almost 30 years now and have been told about a lot of the "vintages of the century". Once wines are bottled and sold or vice versa, as is the case in Bordeaux, these claims tend to be changed.

...

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Tasting note

color

Deep, Brick red and Dark

ending

Long and Metallic

flavors

Blackcurrant, Voluptuous, Smoky, Cedar, Earthy and Tobacco

nose

Generous, Charming, Closed and Intense

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Medium tannin, Complex, Balanced, Concentrated, Medium-bodied, Firm, Rich, Vigor and Drying tannins

Verdict

Impressive and Fine

Written Notes

It is well-known that Cos's first harvests were sold in India where these wines graced the sumptuous tables of the Maharajahs and Nabobs. The famous Pagodas which surmount Cos's cellars and their door, sent from the palace of Zanzibar, symbolize this pioneering break out into the world trade.
In the days of Louis Gaspard d'Estournel, Queen Victoria and the Tsar of Russia all drank Cos, as did the Emperor Napoleon III who loved this wine so much that he had several thousand bottles sent to the Palace of the Tuileries. This universal appeal embraced intellectuals; writers as famous and varied as Stendhal, Jules Verne, Eugène Labiche or Karl Marx loved Cos.
The bottle was in excellent condition. Château-bottled and recorked 1996. Good, deep red colour, no sign of age. Very open and sound nose. Big and powerful, still tannic. Rich, complex and already in good balance. Still a bit closed and hard. Well-made wine with a good future ahead of it. Tasted six times with similar notes.

  • 94p

Beautiful deep-garnet color, with classic Medoc flavors of plum, spice, earth and mineral. Tannic, well-balanced, mouth-filling, chewy in its intensity but still needs time.

  • 94p
D 2 h / G 2 h Moderately intense tawny colour. Less pronounced but very elegant nose with black currants, nuts, cedar, smoke, and hints of violets. Moderately intense on palate with mellow tannins and vivid acidity. Lacking bit of fruit while restrained flavours of tobacco and cedar dominates the moderate length. Very supple wine with finesse and elegance. Drinking superbly now, no further ageing recommended.
  • 90p
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Information

Origin

St-Estèphe, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Extraordinary

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None

Glass time

1h
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