Cos d'Estournel Saint Estèphe 2020

99 points Jeb Dunnuck: "Based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, the deep purple-hued 2020 Château Cos D'Estournel has, dare I say, an almost Lafite-like sense of elegance and class, offering gorgeous cassis and darker currants fruits as well as tobacco, lead pencil, acacia flowers, and graphite. Hitting 13.46 alcohol, with a pH of 3.9 and an IPT of 80, this flawless, full-bodied, incredibly elegant Saint-Estèphe has silky tannins, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. It will need a decade of cellaring to hit its prime drink window. Of the trilogy of 2018, 2019, and 2020, it's clearly my favorite (that’s splitting hairs), with a similarity to the 2016, and will most likely merit another point at maturity. 2023-2083. (3/29/23)"

99 points Panos Kakaviatos (Decanter): ""A first-growth level wine. With aristocratic ease it conveys nimble energy and sneaky sensuality. Pencil lead, white tobacco, cassis, juicy blackberry and cherry gorgeously delineated with refined tannins providing impressive structure for long-term cellaring. The pH is the highest since 2003, but you get neither heat nor imbalance. Impressive dry extract and rather 'normal' alcohol at 13.5% evokes a positively classic feel, leading to a subtle yet super-long finish. For owner Michel Reybier, the vintage marks 20 years of 'passion at the helm'. Comes encased in a uniquely gold-coloured engraved bottle with the phrase 'C’était Cos sinon rien' - Cos or nothing else. Drinking Window: 20205-2065. (2/23/23)"

99 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "A gorgeous, stylish wine, here you find a series of waves packed with blackberries, black plums, black cherries, smoke, licorice, dark chocolate, soy and an array of spices. Rich, deep and intense, the wine hits all the right notes as it melds power, fruit, freshness and elegance to create an opulent, velvety, silky finish that builds and expands as it hangs with you. This is so good now, it will be hard to wait to pull a cork. But its best days are all in the future. So, wait a bit and you will be amply rewarded with an incredible wine. Drink from 2028-2060. (Mar 2023)"

98 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent): "The 2020 Cos d’Estournel has a deep garnet-purple color. It is very closed at this youthful stage but with much shaking it opens out to vivacious notes of crushed blackcurrants, juicy blackberries, kirsch, and cinnamon stick, plus suggestions of star anise, lilacs, and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate shimmers with energetic black fruit and mineral layers, supported by fine-grained, beautifully ripe tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and fragrant. A very elegant expression of Cos, and absolutely beguiling! Alcohol 13.5%. Drink: 2028-2060. (3/13/23)"

98 points James Suckling: "A brooding and deep wine just on the nose, with blackcurrants, redcurrants, spices such as cardamom and nutmeg, as well as black truffles with earth. Complex. Full-bodied with fine yet chewy tannins, that are wonderfully interwoven. Very structured and long. Needs five to six years to come around. 62% cabernet and 38% merlot. Try after 2028. 03/31/23)."

97 points Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux): "(62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot). Brilliant, just so much complexity and depth. The serious tannic heft means this is not the most exuberant Cos d'Estournel but it is such good quality, with edges of violet and peony alongside black tea, turmeric, cloves, blueberry, raspberry, waves of confident tannins, and sea-salted bitter chocolate. Harvest September 10 to 24, 39hl/ha yield, 3.9ph. Alcohol 13.5%. Drink: 2030-2050. (1/16/23)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2020 Cos d'Estournel is a wine of extreme elegance. Silky and light on its feet, the 2020 is incredibly nuanced. In fact it is without question the most finessed of all the top wines in Saint-Estèphe, showing more in common with some of its neighbors in the north of Pauillac than the more potent wines of Saint-Estèphe. Impossibly soft, silky tannins wrap around a core of dark red fruit, spice and orange zest. The 2020 is not a huge Cos, but rather a wine for readers who appreciate elegance over power. I can't wait to see how it ages. Magnificent. Drink: 2030-2060. (Feb 2023)"

97 points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 2020 Cos d'Estournel, which was bottled in July, has lost some of the exoticism that it showed out of barrel. Within five minutes of aeration it develops a complex bouquet: black fruit laced with graphite and subtle cedar aromas, a charcoal back-note and later pressed iris flowers. I foresee this gaining more nuance with bottle age. The palate is taut, lean and precise. Lightly spiced on the entry, with finely-chiseled tannins, again, not quite as precocious as it showed in barrel, allowing the terroir to come through more. There is something almost understated about this vintage vis-à-vis others, razor-sharp precision with just the right amount of salinity on the finish. This is a classy offering that will mature beautifully in bottle. A keeper. Drink: 2026-2060. (Feb 2023)"

96 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "This is a completely different prospect to the second wine right now, clearly displaying is grand vin potential;whereas Les Pagodes de Cos is already open and showing charming floral expression, this is more reserved, rather hunkered down, a touch more reticent, with a light expression of delicately desiccated berry fruits, complicated with little notes of dark chocolate, sage and slate. The palate takes this elegant and defined style and packages it in a very svelte frame, with powdery and tightly knit tannins around the edges, a core of sinewy and savoury fruits within, and an overarching sense of freshness and completeness. It finishes with a dry and lingering grip, which fades through the finish along with the fruit. This is a top effort for the vintage and demands to be placed in your cellar. The élevage here was in 55% new oak, for just 15 months, and the alcohol is 13.46% (precisely!). (Dec 2022)"

96 points Wine Enthusiast: "This wine's complex structure and powerful tannins are shot through with freshness. It is already impressive, the spice and black fruits in harmony with the texture. The wine will age well. Drink from 2027. (Apr 2023)"