Kelly Carlin

9.3

Wowee zowee. Layers of strawberry, citrus, savory notes, mousse. Tip-top. — 4 years ago

Martijn

9.0

Warm wine. Lush red fruit dominated but enough acidity to keep it fresh. — 6 years ago

Kristin the Wine Girl

9.1

This bottle maybe be crying one solitary tear, but I cheer for depth of berry body and the complex velvet mouthfeel. Tip tip, hooray! — 7 years ago

Rob Moose

9.1

Penultimate bottle! With perennial thanks to D Beckwith for the tip. Owing to its age, it shows best from 30-90 minutes on opening. Thereafter it gets sorta wide without further revelations or complexity, but there’s a kind of mineral sweet spot with cool Japanese umami notes and I’m consistently impressed by the showing. — 8 years ago

with Alex

Hannah DeYoung

9.0

Silky, fruity yet sophisticated in an unpretentious way — 8 years ago

Michael Medina

9.1

Delicious, smooth great representative of Haut-Médoc. Went great with Burgundy wine tri tip. — 8 years ago

with Rox

Martin Mazner

9.4

Wonderful example of classic, balanced California cab. Just say no to high alcohol fruit bombs. Intense yet delicate and profound. Served with perfectly BBQ tri tip. Yum! — 9 years ago

Camille Kelly

9.0

Full bodied, deep purple, and refreshing! — 6 years ago

AHF

9.6

Amazing value. Sweet but mellow. Pillow soft palate. — 6 years ago

Cheryl colan

9.0

Enjoying the 2015 vintage. Citrus on the tip of my tongue, but finishes complexly earthy. And quite the kick too (ALC 15.4% BY VOL) — 7 years ago

Nic Anderson

9.5

Love Black Stallion. Great cab went extremely well with a tri-tip steak. One of my favorite all time cabs. Great finish, fruity, but still bold — 7 years ago

Nic Anderson

9.0

Drank this with a tri-tip steak. Very good, would be even better if I’d like it age in the cellar and drank it in 2-3 years. — 8 years ago

Daniel helms

9.0

Very good and mellow. Being a '96 vintage it has lost a bit of flavor. But with Tri-tip, garden fresh corn and feta/Italian dressing/garden fresh Roma tomatoes (well, it is my birthday) the wine is just fine. — 8 years ago

Bill Bender

9.5

Vibrancy and depth with each tip of the glass. A racy freshmaker. Petrol, lemon rind and wet gravel. Very Coche-y at a fraction of the price. Credit to @romo for turning me on to this and @Max Kogod for purveying it with aplomb. — 8 years ago

Alec Jeffery

9.2

Big style Chardonnay from the southern tip of Africa, excellent. — 9 years ago

Danielle Shea

9.0

A much bigger and bolder Claret from winemaker Matt Loso. Notes of stewed plum, chicory and currant jam. Full bodied and complex on the palate, mild to medium tannin with a velvet finish. Great addition to my Christmas table paired with coffee rubbed tri tip steaks. — 6 years ago

Bo Conrad

8.9

This is a wonderful wine. Made to be paired with grilled meat or other hearty food. Not so much alone — 7 years ago

Boris Mathiszik

9.1

Very nice blend. Dry and mouth watering. Makes me want to have a steak right away. Rating upped to 91 after having the bottle with some burgundy tri tip. Just a really great smooth wine. Very delicious. I need to buy more. I think the rating will increase again. Amazing value too. — 7 years ago

Thomas Brenner

9.1

Hey there chaps. If you're feeling chapfallen, then this mountainous cuvee could easily usher in a new chapter in your lives. One that even Monsieur Chaptal would deem a sweet choice. I tip my Chapeau to the chapt who made this Chappellet. Pairs well with Chapatties. I felt like a chapleted chaplain having ditched his chaperones and chaplaincies. Shows notes reminiscent of chaparral. So see your roving Chapman for a bottle worthy of being displayed on your chapiters! — 8 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