Château Cos d'Estournel 2023 is receiving very strong professional reviews, generally placing it among the standout wines of the 2023 Bordeaux vintage. Scores cluster in the mid-to-high 90s, with some critics approaching the 100-point range.
Professional ratings (2023 Château Cos d'Estournel, Saint-Estèphe)
| Critic / Publication |
Rating |
Notes |
| James Suckling |
98–99 / 100 |
Praised for exceptional finesse, floral complexity, precision, length, graphite and “renaissance” quality. |
| Vinous – Antonio Galloni |
96–98 / 100 |
Described as dark, resonant and highly concentrated, with black cherry, plum, licorice, espresso, mocha and incense notes. |
| Robert Parker Wine Advocate – William Kelley |
95–96 / 100 |
Highlighted a lighter extraction style, sensual texture, harmony, suave tannins and a seamless profile. |
| Vinous – Neal Martin |
93–95 / 100 |
Strong score emphasizing structure and aging potential. |
| Estate compilation |
96–97 / 100 (Suckling), 95–98 / 100 (Galloni), 93–95 / 100 (Kelley/Neal Martin) |
Published by the château as a summary of early professional assessments. |
Style & tasting profile
- Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot.
- Character: A refined, modern Cos d’Estournel—powerful but less aggressively extracted than some past vintages. Reviewers highlight:
- cassis and dark berries
- black cherry and plum
- graphite / pencil lead
- violet, lavender and floral notes
- licorice, espresso and spice
- Structure: Dense fruit, polished tannins, strong freshness and a long finish.
Overall professional consensus
Approximate consensus score: 96–98 points. The 2023 is viewed as a top-tier Cos d’Estournel, combining the estate’s traditional power with more finesse and precision. It appears likely to reward long-term cellaring, with many reviewers suggesting it will benefit from bottle age rather than being a purely early-drinking Bordeaux.
Cellaring expectation: roughly 2030–2055+ for peak development (depending on storage and personal preference). This is a serious collector’s wine rather than a casual young-drinking Saint-Estèphe.
98-99pts James Suckling
The finesse is pretty phenomenal here, with such complexity of fruit and vivid, bright flowers. Lavender and rose. Seductive. Ever-so long and precise. Lead pencil and graphite. Reminiscent of old, great Cos, such as 1955 or 1982, but with so much more form and modernity. A renaissance of Cos. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 1% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.
96-98pts Vinous
The 2023 Cos d'Estournel is fabulous. Dark, resonant and inviting, the 2023 has so much to offer. All the elements are beautifully woven together. Black cherry, plum, licorice, espresso, mocha and incense fill out the layers. Readers will find a Cos endowed with tremendous substance and intensity. I can't remember a young Cos with this much fruit concentration, yet there is nothing overdone here. I loved it.
-Antonio Galloni
97 Points Jeb Dunnuck
Crème de cassis, spicy oak, graphite, and lead pencil shavings, with that classic Saint-Estèphe damp earth character, all emerge from the 2023 Château Cos D'Estournel, a deep purple-hued effort based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that was aged in 50% new French oak. It's a rich, concentrated, powerful Cos offering plenty of tannins, ample mid-palate depth, beautiful sweetness of fruit, and a great finish. This serious, brilliant 2023 deserves 5-7 years of bottle age (you'll be excused for drinking bottles today) and will keep for 40-50 years. Drink 2030-2075.
97pts Jane Anson
Step into Cos d'Estournel, with its richness, depths and layers of cocoa bean, liquorice, espresso, chocolate, exceptional chewiness on the tannins, making things fairly serious at this early stage, with a promise of slow-revealed pleasure over the decades ahead. First time doing green harvest in the vineyards since 2008, causing some worries over the late heat waves on already ripening grapes, but they have retained balanced alchols here, and there is plenty of juice to lift things up on the finish. Harvest September 12 to 29 (last year finished September 22). 50% new oak for ageing, 53% 1st wine. In organic conversion (that began in 2021, but have had to extend after addition of a few more plots to the vineyard).
95-97+ The Wine Independent
The 2023 Cos d'Estournel is deep garnet-purple in color. Energetic notes of cassis, wild blueberries, and fresh juicy raspberries pop from the glass, giving way to underlying hints of rose oil, black pepper, and anise. The light to medium-bodied palate is taut with tightly wound, shiny black and red berry layers, framed by firm grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and minerally. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, with pH 3.75 and TPI 72.
95-97pts Jeb Dunnuck
The Grand Vin 2023 Château Cos D'Estournel checks in as 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and a splash of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, resting in 50% new French oak. This beauty brings everything up a notch, with awesome crème de cassis, graphite, violets, spicy oak, and chocolate-driven aromatics. Rich, full-bodied, and beautifully textured, it has the fresher yet ripe style of the vintage, beautiful tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's a beautifully elegant yet powerful wine in the making from this team.
95-96pts Wine Advocate
A contemporary classic in the making, the 2023 Cos d'Estournel has turned out beautifully, reflecting a lighter touch with extraction that has delivered more sensuality and harmony without the loss of any of the estate's signature power and authority. Wafting from the glass with deep aromas of cassis, wild berries, orange zest and exotic spices, framed by well-integrated new wood, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, beautifully suave tannins and a cool, seamless profile. It's a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that attained 12.9% alcohol and is being matured in 50% new oak.
94-96pts Vinous
The 2023 Cos d'Estournel, picked from September 12th to 29th and matured in 50% new oak, blossoms in the glass. The aromatics deliver nearly immediate gratification: black cherries, wild strawberries, crushed violet petals and vanilla pod. It's all quite sumptuous but very well focused. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled, slightly powdery tannins. It's beautifully balanced with a very pure and seductive finish. This is a notably composed and assured Cos d'Estournel, almost a lesson in how less can be more. It's only a couple of steps behind the previous vintage.
-Neal Martin
Winemaker's Notes
As mysterious and intriguing as a lone adventurer returning from a solitary sail, Cos d'Estournel is slow to reveal itself. Little by little, it evokes stories of distant places, market stalls brimming with unfamiliar fruits, spices and wares, village festivities warmed by the joy of revelers and the setting sun, and sumptuous visions of ladies and their voluptuous curves. A myriad of scents, colors and tastes appeals to the senses. The Grand Vin of Cos d'Estournel is both demure and deliberately sensuous, a fascinating and elegant nectar.
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
History
Chateau Cos d'Estournel is a Grand Cru vineyard located in St. Estephe. Its oriental facade is adorned with three pagoda turrets, all cast in a soft golden sandstone. Chateau Cos d'Estournel today covers 170 acres separated from Chateau Lafite, along the southern edge, by the stream between St. Estephe and Pauillac. The gravelly soil, over a flint, limestone and silicate subsoil low in nitrogen, has eroded over centuries to form steep ridges which perfectly drain the vineyards. The vineyards are planted 60 percent in Cabernet Sauvignon vines, 2 percent of Cabernet Franc, and 38 percent in Merlot. Naturally, the percentage of Cabernet or Merlot in the composition of each vintage depends on the climate which favors one grape variety or the other.
