Cos d'Estournel Saint Estèphe 2014 1.5L

98 points James Suckling: "If you want to know what St.-Estèphe smells like, this is it. Aromas of spices, black truffles, forest floor, dried strawberries and tar. It’s full-bodied yet pinpointed on the palate with fabulous density and richness. It’s opulent but in a reserved and checked way. This needs at least five or six years to come around, but it’s already fantastic. What harmony and structure. Try in 2022 if you can keep your hands off it! (1/26/17)"

97 points Tim Atkin, MW (4/6/15).

96 points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 2014 Cos d’Estournel has another intense bouquet with blackberry, graphite, tobacco and mint aromas, almost Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin that exert plenty of grip. This is surfeit with sappy black fruit, graceful and tensile with a beautiful, svelte finish that fans out gloriously. There is real panache to this wine, persistent and satisfying, the aftertaste of graphite and tobacco extraordinarily long. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drink: 2022-2055. (Mar 2018)"

96 points Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux): "(65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc). Selecting the right moment for opening these serious wines is never easy, and the 2014 vintage will continue to soften and open over the next few decades, but the opulent black fruits in this vintage are already filling out the tannic frame. In just the 12 months since I last tasted this wine, the inky confidence and gourmet edging is increasingly irresistable. Cigar box, graphite, cloves and crushed rocks abound, with pomegranate and blueberry fruit. Beautiful, in a great vintage for this appellaiton. Michel Reybier owner, Aymeric de Gironde director at the time. Alcohol 14%. Drink: 2023-2042. (9/9/23)"

96 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "There is a much more brooding character here, the nose filled with wild black cherry and perfumed hedgerow fruits, framed by a note of old polished cabinets. The palate shows a middleweight texture, cool and fresh, but undeniably present, holding up nicely through the middle, effusive, fresh, with plenty of joyful energy. There is structure here too though, some tightly grained tannins and well polished oak, with a touch of dried cherry and black bean to the fruit. Some intensity in the finish as well, with a charged and energetic length. Excellent. (Nov 2018)"

95+ points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2014 Cos d'Estournel is rich, powerful and seductive, with notable unctuousness but a medium-bodied frame. Plum, blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate and lavender notes flesh out in an effortless, sumptuous wine that will provide superb drinking for the next few decades. The 2014 needs time to shed some baby fat, but it is quite impressive, even in the early going. The blend is 65 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 33 % Merlot and 2 % Cabernet Franc. Drink: 2022-2044. (Feb 2017)"

95 points Jane Anson (Decanter):"There's a clear consistency across Cos d’Estournel’s wines – the quality is absolutely unmissable, but don’t open the 2014 just yet. Remember that from the end of August the weather really favoured St-Estèphe, with the result that all those key elements - tannins, acidity and fruit - are here in force. It's still young and closed, with tight tannins, but after 10 minutes or so in the glass olive paste and rosemary notes emerge, followed by graphite and bilberry fruit. Give it time, then reap the rewards. Drinking Window: 2024-2040. (Jul 2018)"

95 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The grand vin 2014 Cos D’Estournel is gorgeous, and I think a step up over the 2015. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, this deep, inky-colored 2014 boasts a gorgeous perfume of ripe currants and cassis fruits, loads of chocolaty oak, cedar and scorched earth, full-bodied richness, and building, firm, yet ripe tannin. It’s certainly one of the gems in the vintage, as well as one of the more structured, opulent and age-worthy. Give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following two to three decades. Drink: 2022-2052. (11/30/17)"

95 points (17.5/20)/'Le Coup de Coeur,' La Revue du Vin de France: "Slightly tighter, full-bodied, still a little oaky, and the abundant tannins are just beginning to melt away. A bottle to wait for. (2018)"

94 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate): "A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2014 Cos d'Estournel has a deep garnet-purple color and is a little closed at this stage, offering slowly emerging scents of fresh blackcurrants, black plums and blackberries plus nuances of pencil shavings, dried lavender, bay leaves and fertile loam with a waft of iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, it has a generous mid-palate of muscular, youthful fruit with a firm frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and savory. Drink: 2022-2047. (11/30/18)"

94 points Wine Spectator: "Intense, with a roiling core of luscious loganberry, blackberry and black currant fruit. Singed spice, apple wood and black tea accents emerge steadily on the finish. Has a rare combination of density and precision. Will cruise in the cellar. Best from 2020 through 2035. (3/31/17)"