x
  • Country ranking ?

    806
  • Producer ranking ?

    16
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

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 appeals to the senses. The Grand Vin of Cos d’Estournel is both demure and deliberately sensuous, a fascinating and elegant nectar.

The vineyard of Cos spreads around the château on 91 hectares.The Cabernet Sauvignon vines (60% of the vineyard) find the soil of their choice in the thin layers of gravely soil situated on the top and on the southern slopes of the hill. On the other hand, the Merlot vines (40% of the vineyard) excel on the eastern slopes and on the slopes where the Saint-Estephe limestone bed shows on the surface.

The percentage of Cabernet and Merlot varies from one vintage to another according to the year weather conditions, benefiting successively to the one or the other. Plantation is extremely dense (8000 to 10000 vines per hectare) and the average age of the vineyard is high (35 years old on the average) in order to enable the roots to extend excessively and to obtain a very slender yield per vine that will create the « Grand Goût »

Each vine grower is in charge of 45 000 vines on which they have got to undertake various labours every year. These cultural tasks are for most of them done manually. The harvest is of course manually picked too. And it is by hand that the grapes, once collected in special wooden baskets, will be strictly selected.

Close

Wine Information

This is a report from the 1990 vintage.

With regard to the amount, 1990 was a huge vintage. In the 1980s, records were beaten year after year. It is, however, a mistake to believe that vintages were enormous everywhere in Bordeaux. The most ambitious wineries decreased their production with green harvesting and strict choice. Thus, the number of bottles entering the market under the name Grand Vin was often notably smaller than in 1982.
The summer was one of the warmest and driest of all times, and as regards other weather conditions, the year was trouble free. The market hardly believed that there was another super vintage maturing in the barrels. At first, the interest was small, partly due to the depression and partly because the stocks were still full of the good vintages of 1980s. This led to an almost 20 per cent drop in prices compared to the en-primeur trade of 1989. Whoever bought then can be considered lucky, because the wines have developed magnificently.

Close

Vintage 1990

An early, even flowering, a warm but unspectacular summer and an exceptionally hot period during the end of August and the first half of September. It was this heat that made it possible for the record harvest to not only to fully ripen, but also to concentrate the fruit.  The harvest started on September 14 and was finished before heavy rains commenced on October 2. Another reason for the success of the vintage was that most châteaux had invested in their cellars and were able to work such a large and hot harvest. It was now possible to control the fermentation temperatures better than in earlier hot vintages, such as 1947. The grapes produced wines with such high natural alcohol that chaptalization became unnecessary. They showed deep colour, high and unusually soft tannin levels and a better acidity than first thought, as well as great fruit concentration. The media hype was great, particularly thanks to the advent of new wine magazines - this was the vintage that cemented Robert Parker’s reputation. The prices rose rapidly and have not looked back since. I remember all Premier Crus (including Pétrus) being offered to end consumers for around 50 euros en-primeur in 1983.

The scene when the 1990 vintage came along was quite different. There was a surplus of very good to great wine on the market – for the first time there was talk of three great vintages following one another. This lead to most châteaux lowering their prices by about 20 per cent compared to their 1989 prices, even though the quality was outstanding. There had been a steady increase in prices during the 1980s, but they were now more or less back to the opening prices of the 1982s. It was again a record harvest, but because most châteaux had by now introduced a ‘second wine’ and due to the fact they were more selective with regards to quality, there was actually less wine being bottled as ‘Grand Vin’ than in 1982.

We have been following both these vintages from a comparatively early age, as they were both precocious and easy to drink from the start. The top wines from both vintages are spectacular, but the overall quality is much higher in 1990. Here the wines were equally successful on both sides of the river, and even minor châteaux produced something special. We have always found most 1982s from the right bank to be too alcoholic and lacking in structure; indeed many are now ageing rapidly.

Close

Latest Pro-tasting notes

15 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Mature and Evolved

ending

Long, Round and Smooth

flavors

Cedar, Leather, Blackcurrant, Vanilla, Toasty and Smoky

nose

Open, Seductive, Pure and Complex

taste

Average in Acidity, Medium tannin, Complex, Balanced, Well-structured, Developing, Medium-bodied, Harmonious, Elegant, Vigor, Dry and Silky tannins

Verdict

Intelligent and Sophisticated

Written Notes

The Cos can be excellent, and no one love Cos more than me. While La Mission should be considered a First Growth already, Cos would be the first second knocking at the door. However, this bottle, while still excellent, was less thrilling than other ’90 Cosses (how does one pluralize that?) that I have had.
  • 93p

Really lively and fragrant with much more charm than most St-Estèphes usually show. I wonder how the famous Ch Montrose 1990 would have shown? This splits the difference between the slightly demanding terroir effect and the richness of the vintage. Great balance. Slightly mineral notes. Rich, round and fruity. Clean, fresh and dense. Very much over-delivers.

  • 96p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

St-Estèphe, Bordeaux

Highlights

Latest news

TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS 100 BEST CHAMPAGNES 2023 / by Champagne Magazine
WINERY NEWS Quinta do Noval / QUINTA DO NOVAL DECLARES 2021 VINTAGE PORT Christian Seely, Managing Director of Quinta do Noval,  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS BWW 2023 - The Best Wine of the World -competition has started! / The 1000 Most Voted Wines
WINERY NEWS Blankiet Estate / Wine Personality of the month!  Claude Blankiet / Proprietor of Blankiet Estate /Yountville,  more ...
WINERY NEWS Méo-Camuzet / The 2020 a very special vintage, which has been bottled, after a few logistical disorders (see   more ...
WINERY NEWS Château Lascombes / Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Château Cos d’Estournel vertical / by Izak Litwar
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS TASTINGBOOK “TASTED” AND RATED 100 TOP WINES FROM BORDEAUX 2022 VINTAGE! / The assessment has been made by the tastingbook's artificial intelligence.
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Novidades in the Port world: / 50 year old Tawny and 50 year old White Port
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS CHAMPAGNE -HALL OF FAME 2022 / by Champagne Magazine and Tastingbook
WINERY NEWS Gaja / Vintage Report 2022 The 2022 vintage was characterized by a constant, wide drought and by an incr  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Gaja's Idda wine project in Sicily? / Tasting with Giovanni Gaja
WINERY NEWS Weingut Robert Weil / A milestone in the history of the Rheingau Riesling dry! 98/100 Points!   "Produced   more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS NEW: TASTINGBOOK PRESENTATION AND INSTRUCTIONS! / tastingbook.info
WINERY NEWS Torbreck / JAMES SUCKLING | OCTOBER 2022 BY TORBRECK VINTNERS By James Suckling, October 2022 www  more ...
WINERY NEWS Bodegas Roda / Bodegas RODA launches its first white wine: RODA I Blanco   The winery from Barrio de   more ...
WINE NEWS: Rare Rose 2012 / Rare Champagne releases Rare Rosé Millésime 2012 & Magnum Millésime 2006   more ...
WINERY NEWS Château Lascombes / Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton  more ...

Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users. or to see wine moments from your world.
Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register
BWW 2023 - Best Wine of the World competition

VOTE NOW FOR YOUR FAVOURITE WINES FOR THE BEST WINE OF THE WORLD -TITLE

 

BWW- The Best Wine of the World 2023 -competition

"We believed the opinion of 10,000 consumers or 1,000 professionals to be more correct and more significant than a small group of wine professionals.”

 

BWW-The Best Wine of the World-competition is by far the toughest wine competition on this planet. Unlike any other industry competition, less than 1% of the wines involved will be awarded. 

BWW is also the largest wine competition: The BWW competition 2021 was held in the world's largest wine information service - tastingbook.com. 21,556 wines received in total 3,569,711 votes from 349,000 wine professionals and wine lovers from 116 countries during the three months voting period.