The 2005 Cos d’Estournel is a stunning expression of a great vintage—deep, powerful, and beautifully composed. With its layered notes of cassis, dark cherry, spice, and graphite, it offers both richness and refinement. The palate is full-bodied, structured, and velvety, with a long, seamless finish. Just entering its prime, this wine will continue to age gracefully for decades.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 99
Published: Nov 17, 2015

The purity of fruit to this is fascinating with plums, currants and other dark fruits. Then there is another layer of spices and chocolate. So much cassis. Full and very layered with chewy polished tannins and a long, long finish. Just starting to open. Changes all the time. Still needs a year or two but gorgeous to drink already.

The Wine Advocate | RP 98
Published: Nov 30, 2018
Drink: 2018-2045

The 2005 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet colored, it is still a little closed and youthfully shy. With coaxing, the nose is just beginning to offer glimpses at vivacious kirsch, red roses, violets, licorice and mocha scents over a crème de cassis, blackberry pie and chocolate-covered cherry core with wafts of chargrill, mossy bark and truffles. Full-bodied, concentrated and wonderfully complex in the mouth, the palate is just beginning to reveal the true potential of this wine, with tightly wound layers of perfumed black fruits and earthy notions bound by a rock-solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and finishing with epic persistence. This still needs 5-6 years, but I love how this beauty is shaping up!!

Decanter | D 95
Published: Jun 26, 2021
Drink: 2021-2040

This inky, dark wine is seductive and immediately approachable, with a nose of sweet black fruit touched with honey and a bit of earth. The texture is silky and dense but not lacking in substance or structure. The blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot with a bit of Cabernet Franc was one of the leading lights in the appellation in 2005, as is often the case. Drinking now, it should continue to improve for decades.

Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.00%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes:  3% Cabernet Franc 78% Cabernet Sauvignon 19% Merlot

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 17.5
Published: Dec 6, 2020
Drink: 2015-2040

Cassis on the nose, followed by a touch of liquorice and pencil lead, but there is still a lot more to come here – it's emerging at a snail's pace. The tannins are already drinkable, so you might coax more out of this with decanting. You'd never guess this was already a teenager. One for the long term.

Estournel.com

FASCINATING, OPULENT, VOLUPTUOUS
An invitation to travel.

Like a solitary adventurer who has sailed the seas, Cos d'Estournel initially appears secretive and intriguing. Then he slowly reveals himself. Step by step, with small touches, he evokes stories of distant cities, markets with a thousand secrets, joyful celebrations in warm stone villages, and women with voluptuous curves. The smells, colors, and flavors are gradually revealed, like happy memories. An elegant, fascinating charm, somewhere between restraint and unashamed sensuality.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON: 78%
MERLOT: 19%
CABERNET FRANC: 3%

"Cos d'Estournel 2005 reveals an exceptional harmony. A dazzling wine capable of provoking great emotions when tasting it today. It is a wine of impressive aromatic complexity, where aromatic power and velvety texture combine, with great length. It offers remarkable aging potential, but can be enjoyed today in all its brilliance ," explains Dominique Arangoits, Technical Director.