Château Cos d'Estournel Les Pagodes de Cos 2020

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos is dark, sumptuous and super-expressive. There is an element of mystery to the 2020, it's a wine that is not ready to show all of its charms just yet. Ripe dark cherry, plum, new leather, licorice, tobacco, incense and dried herbs all build nicely in a Pagodes that balances fruit richness and energy.

Ripe dark fruits on the nose, smells fleshy with licorice, tobacco, dried herb and dark chocolate flecks. Smooth and sleek on the palate, gorgeous texture and weight in the mouth. Grippy and mouthfilling with powdery tannins that gently support the rich fruit profile. A bold, confident wine with chew and flesh and lots of appeal. One for sooner drinking to enjoy the youthful opulence but will age too.

Spicy redcurrants with dark chocolate, as well as bark and black tea on the nose. Full-bodied with firm and fine tannins that are nicely velvet in texture. Delicious and savory finish. Needs four or five years to come together. Best after 2026.

Showing even better from bottle than barrel, the 2020 Pagodes De Cos checks in as 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34 % Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Remarkably elegant and balanced, it has a great nose of red and black fruits, sandalwood, tobacco leaf, and spice as well as medium to full-bodied richness on the palate. It's shockingly good and up with the top second wines out there. It will evolve for at least two decades.

An enticing style, with sparkles of anise and black tea adding nuance to a core of lushly textured loganberry and mulberry fruit. Reveals a light kiss of incense on the open-knit finish. A crowd-pleaser for mid-term drinking. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2034. 12,000 cases made, 1,800 cases imported.

This second wine is complex and structured. At same time, it has the proper openness and precocity of a second wine. Likely to age smoothly, the wine will be ready from 2026.