Justin Wilson

9.9

Group #1 and my WOTN — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Is there any meal better than steak (Ribeye) and well aged Claret? This is another 1991 Bordeaux experiment of mine. 1991 was a vintage with horrible frosts and a less than favorable growing season, right? A vintage critically panned. This is my 3rd recent 91 from a good producer. And again, it didn’t disappoint. Like 97 and 07, it’s better with the right bottle age than young. Magic evolution happened in the bottle way down the road. This 91 is in great form with a fair amount of life ahead of it. On the nose; a little ripe fruit funk, wonderful dark & lighter red cassis, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, plums, hues of blueberries, black raspberries, dry cranberries, vanilla, light cinnamon, rich, black turned earth, cedar, soft leather, dry stones, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs and fresh & dry red flowers. The body/palate is medium, round, ripe & still fresh. The tannins nearly completely resolved. Ripe, floral fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, plums, hues of blueberries, black raspberries, dry cranberries & half cooked rhubarb. Vanilla, light cinnamon, touch of clove & nutmeg, rich, black turned earth, cedar, soft leather, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs, a little band-aid and fresh & dry red flowers. The acidity drips over the palate and the long, well balanced, still structured, nice tension, good length finish lasts over a minute. Again, love & appreciate the 12.5% alcohol. What a beauty with and without the steak. Next time you’re in your fine wine retail shop and see a quality producers 91 that’s been well stored, buy it and have it with a Ribeye. Photos of; their exotic Estate, Chateau interior, newer barrel room and their vines as viewed from the front of the Chateau that are across the road. Producer notes and history...Cos d’Estournel has a long distinguished history in the St. Estephe. Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, gave his name to the estate after founding in 1811. It did not take long before Cos d’Estournel became famous with wine lovers and royalty all over the world. In those early days, Cos d’Estournel did not sell through Negociants. The owner preferred selling his wine directly to his customers. In fact, Cos d’Estournel was exported to numerous countries across the globe, with a large portion of the production being sold to India. It was that connection to India that inspired much of the unique, east Indian design we see at Cos d’Estournel today. Cos d’Estournel was one of the first Bordeaux Chateaux’s to bottle, label and sell their own wine. This practice continued until the death of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel in 1852. If you’re at the property, the statue on the bench in the front courtyard is of the founder, Louis Gaspard d’Estournel. The Estate was then purchased by an owner that sold their wines on the Place de Bordeaux using the negociant system. If the Chateau was not selling their wines through the negociant system, it would never have been included in the 1855 Classification. Imagine that! So, it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Cos d’Estournel was sold to the Charmolue family owners of the neighboring Estate of Chateau Montrose. They continued to own the estate until 1917, when it was bought by Fernand Ginestet. This purchase was the beginning of the next major step in the development of Cos d’Estournel. Decades later, the grandchildren of Fernand Ginestet, Jean-Marie Prats, Yves Prats and Bruno Prats took over ownership and management of Cos d’Estournel. In 1995, Bruno Prats sold the property to the Merlaut family, owners of the Taillan Group. The next era in the development of Cos d’Estournel took place in 2000, when Cos d’Estournel was bought by the industrious and wealthy Michel Reybier, who earned his fortune in the food industry. Michel Reybier hired the son of Bruno Prats, Jean-Guillaume Prats to manage Cos d’Estournel. Things further improved with the efforts of Jean-Guillaume Prats who helped design the most modern wine making at that time. A complete renovation of Cos d’Estournel took place in not only the wine making facilities and cellars, but in parts of the Chateau as well. While the wine making facilities are completely modern with their 100% gravity design, the outward appearance retained the original design and feeling that has always been a part of Cos d’Estournel. On October 15, 2012, Jean Guillaume Prats announced he was leaving Cos d’Estournel to join LVMH (Pichon Baron). Jean Guillaume Prats was replaced by Aymeric de Gironde. Following the departure of Aymeric de Gironde in 2017, the owner, Michel Reybier took over managing the Estate. What makes the remodel special is that the cellars of Cos d’Estournel are entirely operated by gravity. There are no pumps of any kind to force the wine. The purpose is to allow a gentleness to the wine and improve its purity and allow for the expression of their terroir. It set a new benchmark for cellars not only in the Left Bank, but in all of Bordeaux. Perhaps, the most inventive part of the cellars is the four 100 hectoliter lift tanks or wine elevators that replace the pumps used in the traditional pumping over and the racking off processes, which introduce air and often destabilize the marc. From the moment the grapes arrive, everything travels by the flow of gravity. Jean Guillaume Prats called this process a “pumpless pump over.” The 91 hectare vineyard of Cos d’Estournel is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is located extremely close to the border between Pauillac and Saint Estephe at the southern tip of the Saint Estephe. The Estate has very old Merlot vines as well, which date back more than 100 years. Part of the terroir is situated on the hill of Cos, which is at a high elevation for the Medoc at 20 meters. They also make a second wine called Pagodes de Cos. This is a great wine to buy in very good vintages. Especially, if your budget prohibits you from purchasing their first wine. — 8 years ago

Yuki Watanabe

9.5

Fruity, full body, live it — 9 years ago

Michael Horkay

9.1

Im confused. This wine was crazy modern and s departure for the owners of lafite and latour. Wonderful fruit the group had no idea what to make if this wine but all wanted to revisit in 15 years. — 10 years ago

Sean O'Brien

9.4

This 2004 was simply amazing. The group of 6 of us enjoyed the first bottle from the case so much we drank 4 more.... Paired well with a simple salami (pork, donkey, beef, pepper, salt, and garlic) and a local bread. — 10 years ago

Melissa M. Sutherland

Importer Winebow Wines

9.4

Our blind wine Italian group on Italian whites for tonight. A Verdicchio/Lugana study. — 11 years ago

Scott Wren

10

Had with wine group with crab. Sav Blanc and semillion Bordeaux blend worked beautifully. Good acidity but rich with body. Golden color. Melon flavored. — 11 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.5

Love this vintage of Dominus along with the 91. Served blind with the 86 Mouton where most of the group guessed the Dominus for the Mouton. Easy to do as this was so Bordeaux like with dark berry fruits, earth, cedar, leather & tobacco, beautifully balanced, structured, complex with a long finish. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.1

This wine was in a pretty good place tonight, although it was reportedly pre-decanted and aerated before being packed up and enoyed with the group. The biggest thing I remember thinking with this one was "I cannot believe this one is almost 10 years old" as the youth in this wine was quite impressive. There was a raspberry cough drop note that was quite present in this wine, with a lavender as well that was very expressive. Really enjoyed this one tonight. — 8 years ago

Norah Gustafson

9.0

Def needs to breathe, but I'm into it. — 8 years ago

Irina Bukatik

9.5

Great Pinot — 8 years ago

Charlie Beatty

Buyer wineworksonline.com

10

Awesome 97 Insignia. The wine of the night and there were plenty others. Sharing this with all on our Monday night dinner group. I would say 100 points because it was. Guys like Rob Parker recently upgraded this to a 100pts. Big rich full and elegant stand out on this 20 yr old wine. Thanks David for giving me this Awesome Beauty. CB — 8 years ago

with Walter, Dennis and 4 others

Riccardo L.

8.9

Initially very pleasing. Can explicitly taste the oak nuance and the ripe Cali fruit. A bit more reflection reveals tobacco and cedar. Quite Napa-esque, despite its Central coast ancestry. Impressive. — 9 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.5

One of my absolute favorites in Napa!
2nd wine served & the favorite among the group. Love the Rich notes of vanilla custard and creme Brulé, tasted apricot as well. Bravo to a spectacular Chardonnay! — 9 years ago

with Roderic, Kirk and 3 others

Ron Siegel

8.9

A little too much oak for my taste, even though some of the group liked it. — 10 years ago

Lamar Hannah

8.9

Went well for a diverse group — 10 years ago

Read Between The Wines! The Party Game of Wine, Wit & Wordplay!

9.2

Need a Leo at your party? Looking for that gal who can charm the pants off a discerning group of hopeless wanderers? This is your gal. She's a people pleaser with a penchant for citrus and lemongrass. This is the city gal of summer wines. Crisp, refreshing and a pallet pleaser. Allegedly loves seafood (this according to match.com). — 11 years ago

Diane Dixon

Co-Founder Keep Collection, #Sommchat

9.7

Group of 5 all praised this wine is in drinking window — 12 years ago

Kerstin Diesch

9.0

Light, fruity, simple. — 7 years ago

Nancy Burroughs

9.0

Opened at Marco’s Kabobs on Friday, the 13th (10/13/2017). — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.4

A group of guys decided to meet up at our Wine Storage facility and bust out some unique bottles! Scores and notes to follow!

Another Joe contribution, and another wine pushing for WOTN. My first Peter Michael red. Elegant, refined and 100% smooth. One of the best cabs I've had in recent memory. Can't believe this is an '01 based on the dark fruit and tannic structure. Wish I had some PM in my cellar! — 8 years ago

with Mark and Weston

Lewis Chester

9.3

Dom Perignon P2 1999: from Jay. First presentation of the wine outside the Moet group. Dom Perignon will not be doing a commercial launch of this wine as the quantities are too small to warrant such an effort. Pale straw in colour. Good steam of bubbles - an energetic wine. Relatively restrained on the nose at first. Candied fruits, sweet dough, a degree of minerality. Attack is relatively nuanced but this wine's party trick is the delightful mid palate which is very well structured, refined with great depth and balance. The finish is strong with reasonable length. Very impressive for a 1999. 93/100. Drink 2020 to 2030. — 8 years ago

Vijay Parikh

9.2

The group and I ranked this 3. The roundness of Merlot coming through — 9 years ago

Vijay Parikh

9.3

Ranked 1 by the group ( I ranked 2) at the 82 Bordeaux and Cab tasting. Good balance I thought abbot undeveloped possibly needing more air? Wine went well with antelope — 9 years ago

B

9.0

Magnum 1997 Chateau Montelena CS. Big group dinner at Tap w RR and J&Viv M during staycation. Decanted for abt an hour and poured alongside the '79 Stag's Leap Cask 23 CS out of magnum. Unfortunately, this couldn't compare. Some thought it might be a bad bottle, but K wasn't convinced. The wine definitely evolved in the glass and softened out, but we all agreed it wasn't a great bottle. — 9 years ago

Levi Glenn

9.2

Refrigerator red. — 10 years ago

Steve Bachmann

9.3

Held its own in a blind tasting of top tier 2007 CDPs. I ranked 4th and group ranked 6th. — 10 years ago

Eric Hwang

9.2

Tonight's foie gras and Sauternes tasting: my rank 2 of 4. Group no. 3. Light amber glow. Tight at first but unwinds to caramel aromas and hints of brininess. Stylish viscous mouthfeel with soft salted caramel flavors. Thick lingering finish. — 10 years ago

Lindsay Fry

9.6

Super silky for a cab! — 11 years ago

Bob Lane

9.9

Met Kelly during private tasting in September 2012. Group opinion, "find of the trip." Rick bought a magnum that Kelly signed. — 13 years ago