Les Pagodes de Cos Saint-Estephe 2011

With 70% of the crop going into this brilliant wine, what you really have this year is almost what you got from the Grand Vin in great Cos years like 2001 and 2002. Very serious, deep, sweet and gloriously savoury. Cool dense core of dark black ripe fruit. Really sumptuous and should come in at a price this year that we will all be able to afford. Here’s hoping.

The Wine
This estate's second wine, the 2011 Les Pagodes de Cos reveals reasonably broad, round, black currant and black cherry fruit notes, medium body, surprisingly good texture and a soft finish. An attractive, plump effort, it will drink well for a decade. It mirrors its grander sibling as it is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot.

Pagodes is widely seen as one of the second wines having the closest quality to its big brother's. This 2011 is just impressive, and is now at the beginning of its drinking window. You will love its strong black fruit flavours with complex notes of cedar and sweet spices, but also its balanced structure and the smooth, long finish. Absolutely superb for the price, definitely worth older vintages of the first wine according to many critics. A real treat!