[COS D'ESTOURNEL]

Chateau Cos D’Estournel is a second growth that is competing globally, and rising among its peers as one of the most powerful estates in Bordeaux. This is a St.-Estéphe property that has, within the last 25 years, had its share of great vintages, but since 2000 their wines have excelled to greater heights. Jean-Guillaume Prats, CEO of this impressive estate, has taken on the challenge of re-structuring his creative team, and re-focusing their philosophy, that now has them producing more concentrated wines, the result of which has been consistently high quality performances in recent years, anchored by the magnificent 2003.

In 1999, at the age of 28, Jean G. Prats began running the entire operation at Cos D’Estournel. He describes his wines as exotic, spicy, and intense, evolving from a terroir of gravel and clay that provides a critical defense against the harshness of the driest seasons. It was this advantage that helped to overcome the lack of water in years such as 2003 and 1989. In fact, it is the 2003 that Prats sites as the property’s greatest vintage ever produced, eclipsing the 1982, 1961, and 1947, a vintage that was profound from the moment it was tasted at the Primeurs of 2004, and one that will set the standard by which all others from this property will be judged for decades to come. Prats compliments the most recent 2005 vintage as being in the same league as the ‘03 but admits that it is too early to tell if it rises to the same heights as its recent ancestor.

Prats’ success in recent years is a result of a philosophy that wine makers should have a forward looking mindset, to be innovative, and to accept new ideas. Ever mindful of maintaining consistent quality, along with balance and harmony of a wine, he suggests that the most successful estates add an element of modernity to their approach, citing specifically Chateau L’Angélus, and crediting them for introducing positive ideas to Bordeaux.

Since 2000 Cos D’Estournel has been bringing a more modern approach to its wines, producing a warm and exotic taste that can be enjoyed more immediately while not losing the aging potential that so marked the style of its wines from the 70’s and 80’s. He credits this to the more careful techniques now used in the monitoring of the vineyards, the extraction and maceration process, as well as the aging process which includes the use of less racking and less oxygen. The incredible amount of time, work, and dedication that is brought to this new approach, Prats believes, may produce a wine that is better by mere fractions in the overall scheme of things, but it is those fractions that show up clearly upon tasting and makes all the difference, just as it would, he explains, for a race car driver to spend years researching the most innovative use of oil and tire traction to gain the one half second edge needed to defeat his opponent.

The genesis of Prats’ move into new directions of wine making was partly as a result of criticisms that he took as to the quality of some vintages in the late 1990’s. To his credit he used those critiques to take an honest look at what the estate was producing, and he found that indeed there where areas to improve upon. As a result he overhauled his staff in 2002 and hired a new team that he believed would lead Cos D’Estournel into a new era, one that would take full advantage of the tremendous natural resources that the estate’s terroir provides. Thus far the results have been enormously successful.

Prats puts a noticeably positive spin on the modernity question. While others believe that many in Bordeaux are selling out, becoming a slave to commercialism, and devaluing the traditional motives of wine making, Prats instead believes that the new age has revitalized the Bordeaux experience. Not frustrated by the current state of affairs, he believes that the high estates of Bordeaux have never been more well run, and have never had such an attention to detail as they do now. In his view the next 10-15 years in Bordeaux will be marked by renewed interest and investment and he predicts that the wines will achieve new levels of innovation.

He has already proven that tradition and modernity can co-exist peacefully and though Cos D’Estournel is a very well respected second growth Prats believes that his wines are in the same league as any first growth, particularly in the past four or five vintages, however he is quick to say that he understands that there is more to being a first growth wine than just quality. He is very aware of the history and prestige that goes along with first growth status that takes some one to two hundred years to duplicate.

Whatever the status of this vibrant chateau there is much to look forward to. There is every reason to believe that it will continue to be a main player on the Bordeaux wine scene. With a philosophy that has been shaped by a fresh and honest look at where the wine market has been and where it is going, and a new and innovative team to help steer it, Cos D’Estournel can be counted on to provide collectors with a long line of quality vintages in the years to come.

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