Visiting Cos d'Estournel is simply an experience.
This Chateau is simply not overlooked. For one thing, it's right next to the road, so whenever you leave Pauillac and head north, you're bound to drive by. And then there's the visage. It looks completely different from all the other wineries. You'd suspect the owner and architect of this being a good marketing ploy - it's so easy to remember the look of Cos d'Estournel.
In reality, it was a little different. Louis Gaspard d'Estournel built this early 19th-century estate in the style that had charmed him when he was in the Far East. And because he was lucky enough to inherit land in such an exceptionally good location for growing vines, a hill called Cos (cos translates as 'stony hill'), he called his estate Cos d'Estournel.
Even the current owner, Mr Michel Reybier, holds Louis d'Estournel in high esteem. He, in bronze, sits on a bench and writes down how the work he started 200 years ago works today. And he must be satisfied.
As soon as the small gate opens, we drive through and squeeze our car into the open space in the modest parking lot, Mr. Dominique Arangoïts, the technical director, comes to greet us. He has been working at Cos d'Estournel since 2004. There's no one better to look after us.
We walk in and feel like we're in the reception of a luxury hotel in Bangkok. The owners keep the style in the interior. For how big the space is, it's quiet and cozy. It has a special atmosphere and we feel very comfortable here.
We are all the more surprised when Dominique describes that in this hall, at harvest time, there are trolleys of grapes going back and forth overhead. (!) We are halfway between the conveyor and the stainless steel tanks. The owner, in renovating the building, has respected the purpose for which it was built and has therefore preserved the original method of transporting the harvested grapes.
After a short tour of the technology, we start with the tasting.
After the introduction of their second wine Pagodes de Cos 2015, we will have a vertical tasting of their first wine Cos d'Estournel, specifically the 2015, 2012, 2008 and 2003 vintages. It's beautiful to see how this wine changes with age. For the better, of course. :)
Dominique asks if we would be interested in their white wine as well. We're certainly not opposed and soon have a glass of Cos d'Estournel 2017 blanc. After five reds, it's certainly a nice change.
And since the owner, Michel Reybier, also owns a winery in Provence since 2020, which specializes mainly in rosé wine, we don't let him talk us into tasting it for long. Specifically, it's Chateau La Mascaronne 2021 and it's delicious.
At this point I must make a small interjection: the fact that Dominique (or anyone in any other winery) offers us and opens bottles that he would not otherwise open is not a given. Of course, it is not a question of money. It's the fact that he recognizes that we know something about wine, understand it, and can give him feedback that is beneficial and therefore important to him as a technical director.
And because Dominique also invites us into the vatroom to taste their whites straight from the tanks, we move with the glasses into the heart of the production process. It's a great experience and we are grateful for it.
We end our visit just before noon. There were plenty of samples, so we leave in a slightly elated mood and the driver, although he held back during the tasting, doesn't even want to think if he would pass the alcohol test.
Dominique Arangoïts has provided us with a truly worthwhile experience and I thank him once again.