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Château Cos d’Estournel Winery Guide

Cellar Tours Insight — Since 2003, Cellar Tours has planned private wine journeys through the world’s leading wine regions, pairing tailor-made itineraries with VIP winery visits, fine dining, and expert regional guidance.

Winery Overview

If this property has one stand-out feature, it must surely be the architecturally stunning winery itself. It is the first building you will see when entering the St-Estephe Appellation from Pauillac. It’s impossible not to be impressed by the exotic grandeur, complete with genuine carved doors from Zanzibar and Asian-inspired Pagodas. Unusually, there is no mansion at Cos (the owners lived off-site), and visitors often mistake the winery for the Château. St-Estephe is arguably the last of the great Medoc Appellations as you travel up the Gironde towards the Atlantic Ocean. Last is by no means least, however, as the region is full of delightful properties to visit, full of history, and of course, fantastic wines.

Cos d’Estournel took its modern form after 1811, although there were probably vines on the gravel soils in the 18th century. Louis d’Estournel, a wealthy merchant who amassed his fortune in Asia, developed the estate and expanded its vineyards in the early 19th century. He commissioned the winery design to remind him of his time as a trader in the Far East. As is always the case in Bordeaux, ownership would pass into different families, and in 1852 the property was sold to English Bankers, who being generous souls (really, bankers?), continued to invest in the estate. In 1889, the Charmolue family brought Cos, before selling it in 1917 to Fernand Ginester. His daughter Arlette married into the Prats family, which is how in 1971, it came into the hands of Bruno Prats, who became an internationally known ambassador for the wine.

Bruno was a good ambassador for the estate, but he was also a hands-on owner and invested substantially in the property and reconstructed the vineyards. Although the property passed into the hands of Michel Reybier, a French food manufacturer, in 2000, Bruno’s son Jean-Guillaume has stayed on as general manager of the estate. Since 2004 the technical director has been Dominique Arangoits, who has made wine for the famous Hungarian dessert wine producer Tokaj. He produces rich and sumptuous wine, a firm favorite amongst critics, wine lovers, and anyone in the know. Jacques García, one of France’s leading cutting-edge interior designers, has recently redesigned the property’s interior, which is simply gorgeous. Think elephant statues, flickering candles, and Arabian nights…. You have come to the right place if you like rich, delicious wines, stunning architecture, and a warm welcome!

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Further Reading

Author

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James Lawrence

With a passion for food & drink that verges on the obsessive, wine writer James Lawrence has traveled the world in search of the perfect tipple. To date, nothing has surpassed the 1952 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva, tasted in the cobweb-filled cellars with owner María José. Meanwhile, James has been writing for a wide variety of publications for over 12 years, including Telegraph, Decanter, Harpers, The Drinks Business, and Wine Business International. He lives in South Wales and returns to his former university city, Bilbao, as much as possible.

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