Les Pagodes de Cos 2012

Their second wine, the 2012 Les Pagodes de Cos (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot), exhibits soft tannins, a deep ruby/purple color, sweet plum, black cherry fruit, a round, generous mouthfeel and excellent purity and depth. This is a very up-front and consumer-friendly second wine to drink over the next decade. Drink 2015-2025

Tasted as a barrel sample at the château. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, the Les Pagodes de Cos has a lifted, more feminine bouquet with small black cherries and faint earthy notes. There is a citric sharpness on the entry. It is very pointed and quite masculine with pencil lead notes running from start to finish. It is slightly "brittle" in the mouth, but nicely focused and edgy. Tasted April 2013.

Very appetising nose. Sweet and slightly simple. Easy and appealing. Very firm tannins. No third wine. 'I want to pay a big tribute to JG [Jean-Guillaume Prats] and our winemaker as this is the result of hard selection in the vineyards', said new director Aymeric de Gironde.

As you'd expect, this is similar in style to its grand vin, Cos d'Estournel. The brash, coconutty
oak is part of the style, as are ripe, concentrated, slightly baked Napa-like flavours. It's not an
elegant wine, but Pagodes is still impressive in its way. Blind, I'm not sure I'd place it in the
Médoc, let alone St Estèphe.
Drink: 2018-28

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, it offers up sweet black cherry, incense, lavender and damp foresty characteristics in an elegant, ripe, medium-bodied style. With good purity, sweet tannin and a heady finish, it should drink well for a decade.

Proprietor Michel Reybier has produced an outstanding 2012 Cos d'Estournel from a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. With a pH of 3.75 and alcohol level of 13.8% this is a ripe wine with the same tannin levels (IPH) as the 2009. The second wine, the 2012 Les Pagodes de Cos, represents 50% of the production.