94pts Wine Enthusiast

This wine is dense, complex and with great tannins. It is powerful and rich, packed with black fruits. Good acidity gives the wine its freshness, its black-currant fruit and its potential longevity. Rich and with great aging potential, this is becoming a major wine in its own right rather than just a second wine of Cos d'Estournel. Drink from 2025.

94pts James Suckling

Really juicy and delicious on the nose. Enticing. Plum, berry and spice undertones. Some chocolate. Full and very long. Gorgeous focus and finesse. Better in 2021.

91pts Decanter

Very good crushed berry fruit and a much more elegant style than before. A polished wine with depth and spice, silky texture and exotic spices; very well made.

91pts Vinous

The 2015 Les Pagodes de Cos is a very serious second wine, especially in this vintage, where so many Saint Estèphes are on the lighter side. Plush, deep and enveloping, within the mid-weight style of the year, the 2015 Pagodes possesses lovely depth, texture and resonance. Black cherry, plum, licorice, tobacco and menthol wrap around the racy finish. All the elements are in the right place. This is very nicely done. The blend is 46% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Les Pagodes de Cos has a rather fragrant nose of florals and earthy notions over a core of warm black fruits, red currants and cherry cordial plus a waft of sautéed herbs. The medium-bodied mouth is finely crafted, refreshing and soft with well-played tannins.

Jeb Dunnuck

The second wine of the estate is the 2015 Pagodes de Cos and it too is an open-knit, medium-bodied, charming red that offers impressive notes of ripe cherry and currant fruits, underbrush and dried flowers. A blend of close to 50% Merlot and the balance mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, it has fine tannin, solid balance, and the depth to evolve gracefully for 10-12 years.

Tasting Notes

Intense, refined and deep, it is perfectly balanced and voluptuous, a highly enjoyable wine. The 2015 vintage is fruity and explosive, with a silky aromatic signature. With satisfying notes of ripe fruit and fresh notes of spice, Pagodes de Cos 2015 is a glorious, balanced wine filled with promise.

About the Wine

The joy and spontaneity of moments shared with loved ones.

An impromptu lunch with friends is the perfect occasion to open a bottle of Pagodes de Cos. It is reminiscent of the simple pleasures of life, like homemade blackcurrant syrup, a bowl of just-picked red cherries or a freshly opened jar of citrus jam. Pagodes de Cos is at once indulgent, comforting and vivacious, like a carefree conversation with family or friends in a familiar place.

Winery Notes

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.

Blend: 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46.2% Merlot, 5.8% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot