les pagodes de cos 2016

the château de cos d'estournel was built in the early 19th century by louis-gaspard d'estournel. nicknamed "the maharajah of saint-estephe" for his love of travel, especially to india, he had exotic pagodas built over his cellars as a tribute to his distant conquests. very quickly, the wine of the estate rose to the level of the finest bordeaux wines, was exported as far as india and reached the rank of 2nd grand cru classé in 1855. today, the prestigious vineyard belongs to michel reybier and covers 67 hectares. framed by the gironde river to the east and the atlantic ocean to the west, it benefits from a micro-climate that acts as a temperature regulator. in old gascon, "cos" means "hill of pebbles", a name justified by the geological particularity of the terroir: gravels from the quaternary period have piled up, forming a hill about 20 meters high, at the top of which the château superbly overlooks the river. only grapes from vines over 20 years old are used to make cos d'estournel wine, the rest of the harvest being used for the second wine. the rest of the harvest is destined for the second wine. practicing an essentially manual work, the estate uses new oak for the maturation, which subtly enhances the aromas by a right woody taste. finally, a final selection limits the annual production to between 200 000 and 380 000 bottles. second wine of the prestigious cos d'estournel, this wine is made from the youngest vines of the property. previously, this production was destined for château de marbuzet. since 1994, a true second wine is produced in the cellars of cos. the young vines, from 5 to 20 years old, follow the same maintenance as the older ones. powerful, strongly aromatic, charming and long in the mouth, "les pagodes de cos" is a wine of great elegance ready to drink after two to three years of ageing which allows to wait patiently for the great wine.