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

Hal Halbert

9.1

Sweeter than expected but fabulous: good start to a birthday dinner with friends. — 10 years ago

Andrew Whittle

Co-Owner/Director Summit Estate Wines

9.4

Perfect end to a great day of wine tasting & touring - life is good! — 10 years ago

Jonathan Tadros

9.3

I never see this as a true Chardonnay as you get hit with citrus like pa-pow pa-pow! So the start is crisp and dry. The finish is where that smooth oak and butter comes to life. Nice balance. A damn good white to enjoy on a hot day, or with some bomb seafood. #nothinglikenapa — 11 years ago

Nils Bernstein

9.2

The 1988 Coutet. Great Sauternes/Barsac vintage. Still full-bodied & good acid w/lotsa life yet. Lemon marmalade, light toffee, some pungent spice and Rieslingy petrol realness, & a long Lemonhead candy finish.
— 11 years ago

Dana Svoboda

10

Not too fruity or sweet. Cross between chard & Pinot g (good from both). — 11 years ago

Zz Da

9.2

Not really tasting the ginger but still good and sweet. — 12 years ago

Daoud Sangwa

Sommelier Whole Foods Market

9.2

Finally found a very good french hard cider. Classic. — 12 years ago

Joe Loughran

9.4

This was really delicious. Amazingly youthful still, with loads of dark fruit, some tannins remaining, and good acid. Paired beautifully with pork chops and roasted vegetables. Plenty of life ahead but this felt like prime drinking to me. — 9 years ago

David Donalson

9.5

Cider! Who knew it could be this good? — 9 years ago

Meg

9.2

Tonight we had a little fanfare for my Dad's 64th bday. This man has been thru a lot in the last few months. The celebration was twofold.... as my Mom rested on the couch, her last day of this treatment cycle tomorrow. I have been dreading birthdays for a while now, a reminder of fleeting youth, but I had an epiphany.... that each year of life that passes is indeed a blessing and a very good reminder. I got him personalized golf balls as a gift - something I put some thought into that I thought he might enjoy using on an almost daily basis. The price was more than I wanted to spend, but it's not really the gift, or the price of the gift that matters. Or the tangible gift at all. Or the wine, or where we are. At the end of the day, just being together is always the greatest of gifts. — 10 years ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.0

Very good at the end if its life - drink now. Classic dark fruit and tealeaves. Was 70 bucks. This monopole 2 ha vineyard La Bussiere from Roumier is now 150$ and out of my range😩. I am drinking up my burgundies and replacing them with Pinots from Germany and some from Oregon. — 10 years ago

Erin Hollrah

9.2

Marcel Lapierre Morgon… I smell it in the breeze, the warm kind that makes my head float above the leaves and just flutter down to the ground below — no matter if that ground be sand, snow, concrete or dirt. It doesn’t matter, for this wine personifies my favourite wine descriptor: high toned.

Medium garnet in colour, a generous nose of fully ripened strawberries; red and dark cherries; and warm, granite-rich earth leaves room for no other aroma to interfere. For a daydreaming stint, I become sweet sixteen. Everything is deep pink and love is such an easy red. Life is silky and breezy and good. I could live forever in the slipsteam.

The wine is dry but its fruits are gushingly sweet. A soothing mouthfeel and supple tannins offer too lovely an experience. It is so tempting to bite into the bitter little seeds inside the berries, but instead Marcel Lapierre Morgon begs you to roll with the black cherry skin and enjoy the simplicity before harsh aspects of life are unavoidable. The cover of YM magazine will never be interesting again, so why not enjoy it while it lasts?

Alas, the heartier-skinned wines and those unbathed in hippie funk; the awkward intrigues as well as dangerous lusts inevitably called my attention. Life may never be that raw and pristine again, but the beauty I can always recapture in this unforgettable bottle.

— 10 years ago

Will Phelps

Joseph Phelps Vineyards

9.5

2004, in good form. Still so much life ahead. — 10 years ago

Matt Easton

9.0

Light carbonation, good apple flavor, semi-sweet, natural tasting. — 10 years ago

Greg Sorensen

9.3

This has got life to burn. Super good. — 11 years ago

Martin Redmond

8.9

Nice dry, crisp cider. Very good, but prefer wine. May revisit when the weather turns warm — 11 years ago

Jamil C Williams

General Manager at Silverlake Wine

9.7

Pretty damn good. — 12 years ago

Lacey Chaput

9.8

Awesome tasting at Cade with my favorite people. Life is good — 12 years ago

Adam Harrell

9.0

Lot of life left. In a good place & drinking well. — 9 years ago

Jeremy Hollingsworth

9.2

Dark fruit with spice and licorice It's almost Christmas time, kids are all home and rib eyes are in the grill. I feel I'm the luckiest guy around, life is good! — 9 years ago

Gilbert Van Hassel

9.3

2005 vintage extremely tasty. Tastes great and this wine has another 20 years of life. No doubt a superb effort but I am very worried. Just like Bordeaux is no longer claret, rayas is no longer a delicate wine. Rayas was a delicate, subtle, light colored, feminine wine. It has become high alcohol, big color, masculine wine. Very good but I miss the elegance. Has Emanuelle Reynaud listened too much to RP. We don't need another Pegau. Rayas was just fine as it was. — 9 years ago

Erik Longabardi

9.5

This is beautiful. Please do yourself a favor and find this. Good work West County — 10 years ago

Lyndsy Holmes

8.9

Also smells really good. — 10 years ago

Max Gottesfeld, FWS, CSW

8.9

Dry clean crisp. Very good. — 10 years ago

John Trentacoste

9.5

Good riddance, intern. Hello Cider! — 10 years ago

David MacMillan

9.3

All I can say is wow.....what a wine! Great company, great wine......life is good — 10 years ago

with Jonathan

Howard Yang

8.9

Dark burgundy in color, smell of current, cider wood, raisin and mint, medium to long finish, soft tannin, good balance with nice acidity. — 11 years ago

Remi Barrett

9.6

89 Lynch Bages... So good! Tons of life in it. Perfect tannins — 12 years ago

Jessica Pinzon

9.5

The perfect Fall apéritif - Bordelet apple cider from Normandy... Like biting into an apple fresh off of the tree. So good! — 12 years ago