Château Cos d'Estournel 1989

The 1989 Cos d'Estournel is very good, but uninspiring. The 1989, although good, does not live up to expectations given the terroir and the vintage. Its deep ruby color is followed by a spicy, vanillin, curranty nose, medium body, excellent depth, but a monolithic personality. It possesses neither the concentration nor the dimension of the exceptional 1990. The 1989 has some hard tannin on the finish, but it is well integrated with the wine’s ripe fruit. Expect this wine to drink well for the next 15+ years.

Complex aromas of tobacco, earth and forest leaves follow through to a medium body, with fine tannins and a fruity, soft finish. Very soft and long. At its peak, but pretty and seamless. -- '89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now.

A wonderful depth of fruit with very firm and dense tannins. It has so much character of olives, spices, and berries. It’s the wine’s freshness and intensity that won me over the 1990 Cos.

Good depth of garnet with some brick at the rim. Leafy, herbal and cedary nose with a firm but non-aggressive grip. Not as rich on the mid palate as Lynch Bages or Las Cases. Tannins seem a bit abrupt at the end but the fruits slides in underneath and persists. Later: more coffee and a hint of iron. But seems sweeter than on first tasting and longer. (JH)

Full medium ruby. High-pitched, perfumed aromas of dark berries, minerals and violet; very cabernet. Rich, dense and youthful; broad and beefy, with cassis, black cherry and bitter chocolate flavors. Finishes very sweet and long, with fine tannins spreading out impressively to coat the palate. A great showing. Drink now through 2015.

Ruby colored with bricking around the edges, the wine is very spicy, with scents of cinnamon, truffles, earth, cassis, and minerals. The wine is traditionally styled, giving it an austere quality. The fruit is not as rich as it was and is slowly starting to fade. Drink soon.

Medium garnet, bright, with a lightening rim. Smoky bouquet, cold cheminée, Bakelite, currants, rather dry. Compact, strict palate, enormous concentration, insanely intense aromas, a certain bitterness, still strongly astringent but undeniably noble, long finish, a slight lack of harmony; the finish is still dry, even after a longer time.

Already from the barrel you could smell the slightly overripe fruit. This made it popular for years. I’ve had it from every possible format. 89: The bouquet would fit right into a blind tasting in California. The wine smells so much of chocolate, roasted coffee and spicy eucalyptus that you could (almost) put it next to the 89 Trailside by Heitz. On the palate, ripe, gently drying tannins, dried blueberries, gently jammy on the finish. Incredibly easy to drink (18/20). 03: Somehow the greatest fascination seems to have faded. The bouquet shows smoke, even cold fireplace, partly bakelite notes and dried celery bark; the overripe fruit already noted in barrel samples now shows currant tones, but also hay and a hint of oxidation. The palate feels fine yet strict at the same time; the tannins lack juiciness, so the wine tends toward an ever more pronounced dryness with bitter notes. The fruit has almost disappeared and the remaining aromatics also seem to “evaporate.” Do not decant and enjoy rather cool (17/20). 06: The nose is clearly 18/20 and shows a great mocha note. On the palate, unfortunately, there’s a fine bitterness in the extract. (17/20). 06: Jeroboam: Very dark, extremely dense Bordeaux red, showing first browning maturity tones at the rim. Extremely spicy bouquet, lots of clove, licorice, mocha, dried figs and currants, all underpinned by malty smoky notes. A wild Cabernet bouquet, more reminiscent of a Californian Cabernet. On the palate initially assertive, then becoming finer with air; a certain dryness remains, though. The wine turns malty on the finish, shows dark rock candy and comes with an appropriate yet clearly noticeable bitterness in the very concentrated, firm extract. Is it still too young in this large format? Given how it improved with air, one might think so. The score was close to 19/20. Regular bottles likely at 17/20. 08: Again a very ripe-seeming, soft bottle with an earthy-sweet taste. With air it became a bit fresher and showed herbal notes—alongside malt and again chocolate… 08: So—now I’m rounding up. The jeroboam at the Metzgete was simply too good and the Cos still seems to have some reserves thanks to its concentration and the very gently bitter but now waning tannins. 09: Two double magnums at Kloster Spitz from my cellar. The nose a bit more promising than the palate, because on the palate those fine bitter notes were present that the regular bottles have now shed. So decant large formats for quite a long time. 09: Magnum at Lake Attersee: Pale, rusty notes. Open bouquet, rosehip, Dominican tobacco, oregano, slender, fragile palate. 11: Lots of mocha, prunes and pumpernickel bread. Quite creamy on the palate; I’ve had it drier; it was also somehow a brilliant renaissance bottle. (19/20). 16: A really great bottle at a lunch at Cos. It was poured blind, but immediately recognized as an 89. It has a beautiful core, a kind of heart. I think it will hold much longer than expected.

Spicy, rustic bouquet with currants, tobacco, fine woods, leather. Balanced, classic palate with good aromatics, fine tannins, classic structure, long, delicate finish. 18/20 drink up

Fragrant floral notes, the most muscular of the two 1989s, with plenty of power. Cos is known for its exoticism, and a hot year like 1989 helps to draw out that side of things, with fruitcake, olive tapenade, fennel and black pepper spices, and a smoky caramel edge to the finish. Plenty of St Estèphe signature, and a showcase for how Cabernet Sauvignon ages so slowly on these gravel-clay soils on the borders of Pauillac. Bruno Prats was owner at the time, as we are here a full 11 years before the arrival of Michel Reybier. Likely to have been over 50 hl/ha yield, as this was an extremely abundant year – and provided the highest natural alcohol (with no chaptalisation, which was common at the time) on record then. 100% new oak. There is a youthful feel to this Cos, but it is less nuanced than Pavie (I would suggest choosing the 1990 Cos if given the choice between the two because, although not tasted here, I have found it to be more consistent). Still plenty of life ahead, when it may gain extra complexity – never count these out.

Filigree character, subtle in this bouquet. I detect nuances of truffle, oregano, tobacco leaves, and classic St‑Estèphe markers such as cedar and graphite. Fruit is also present through a touch of cassis. On the palate, Cos shows firm yet well‑integrated tannins. The aromatic expression is well supported by the acid structure and a hint of bitterness that underpins the finish. The latter mirrors the terroir notes perceived on the nose and is persistent. A Cos in great shape, with still a few years ahead of it.

Dark color, medium intensity, evolved. Nose of plum and ripe fruits in brandy. Once again, it shows animal notes. Velvety attack on the palate that develops into a round mouthfeel, but once again excessively oaky. Cedar and caramel flavors on the finish. Tannins a touch dry.