Cos d’Estournel 2010

When to drink: 2021 to 2075

Tobacco and coffee comes through initially, giving this a certain mellow spiciness. A tight, refined but glossy black fruit character comes through. This seems layered and complex. On the palate the tannins are massive and meaty, but the juiciness of the fruit is exquisite – there’s chocolate and a lightly roasted flavour, but the keen black fruit freshness pierces that. The overriding impression in the finish is the sweetness and ripeness of the fruit, that ashy, mineral earthiness also adding a layer of complexity. Intense colour. Nose of red and black fruits with toasted, liquoricy notes and a touch of tar. Full, dense, extracted palate with refined tannins framed by power and warmth. Harmonious and massive across the palate in a style not typical of the Médoc.

The 2010 Cos d’Estournel is a more structured, restrained, less flamboyant version of the 2009. A final blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that hit 14.5% natural alcohol, this wine (which represents only 55% of the estate’s production) is full-bodied, classic and built along the lines of the 2000 (although that wine was made before Reybier acquired the estate and upgraded quality significantly). This wine exhibits beautifully pure notes of creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur, pen ink, graphite and hints of toast and vanillin. The wine is full and rich, and although aged in 80% new oak, the wood is a subtle background component. This beauty will take longer to round into shape than the dramatic and compelling 2009. Forget it for 5-8 years, and drink it over the following three-plus decades.

These are two terrific wines from Cos d’Estournel. Proprietor Michel Reybier will have to continue his great success over the next decade without his top lieutenant, Jean-Guillaume Prats, who has taken another job, but the estate seems to be in superlative condition, and at the very top of its game.