Château Cos d'Estournel, 2003

From its peak high up on the St Estephe escarpment, looking down onto Lafite at the north end of Pauillac, Cos d’Estournel’s mystical eastern-inspired Chateau has always produced wines of exotic hedonism. Famed once for its wines of monolithic weight and intensity, since 2011 the estate has seen a real shift in style focusing on creating wines that are beautifully balanced with classical elegance and finesse. The team are clearly increasingly driven to reflect the remarkable mineral terroir of the estate rather than the sheer power of its opulent fruit. Undoubtedly one of the ‘Super Seconds’, in top vintages it can really push the First Growths for quality and panache.