2001 Cos d'Estournel, St-Est̬phe

I have been lucky enough to taste this wine many, many times and each taste was a real occasion. Going back into my old notebook, I see that I tasted it for the first time in barrel at the Chateau on March 29th 2002, and it made a huge impression on me. I felt that it was one of the best wines of the vintage; with exclamation points all over my description- it reminded me very much of the 1990. We tasted it several more times on that trip, and once we compared it to the 2000. The K&L group was unanimous, the 2000 Cos was good, but the 2001 was the better wine- an opinion that has been confirmed again and again by many others in the trade that have done the comparison. This is a classic sleeper, an insider‰۪s vintage, and a smart buy. When we tasted it again on release, when the wine's signature exoticism was really starting to blossom. This Cos is much more modern than bottles from the old days, but somehow Jean-Guillaume Prats and his team have updated the wine without compromising its soul. It is still (I have tasted up to 2005) one of the most identifiable wines in Bordeaux with its perfectly balanced components of coffee, cinnamon and clean-clay-earth. This is big Bordeaux, and while I think it would show very well in a comparative tasting now (it may even be a "spoiler") the real pleasure in drinking is still yet to come. I give this my highest recommendation for my patient friends and customers!