Les Pagodes de Cos 2018

Deep ruby in colour, with a creamy nose of cherries, vanilla and cassis. The palate is juicy and plump but still firm with mouthcoating tannins. This adds weight and harmony, as do the waves of vibrant acidity. The spice builds onto the finish, with a lightly toasty char, but this is well integrated into the fruit and adds a savoury complexity.

The 2018 Pagodes de Cos, which sees 20% new oak, offers ripe kirsch, fig and blackcurrant aromas on the precocious nose although it just about remains focused and delineated. The palate is sweet and chewy on the entry, though it manages to develop finer tannins and a degree of finesse towards the liquorice-tinged finish. There is a long spicy aftertaste here, slightly Asian in style, perhaps with just a hint of soy lingering in the mouth. Fine.2022-2030

The 2018 Les Pagodes de Cos (14.51% alcohol) is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, aging in 20% new barriques. Deep purple-black in color, it practically explodes from the glass with rambunctious notions of baked black cherries, plum preserves and crème de cassis with hints of cigar box, fungi, tilled soil and woodsmoke plus a touch of crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate delivers mouth-coating black fruit preserves with a beautiful earthy undercurrent and a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins, finishing with fantastic length. A very serious second wine! Should age incredibly.

This is so beautiful with very fresh and ripe fruit at the same time. Medium-to full-bodied. Rich and layered. The accessibility and forwardness is so enticing in this second wine. Best Pagodes ever?

The 2018 Les Pagodes de Cos is fabulous. Rich, dark and explosive, Pagodes captures all of the natural intensity of the vintage. Black cherry, leather, cedar, scorched earth and grilled herbs all blossom in a dark, somber wine loaded with class. Huge, ripe fruit and equally large-scaled tannins result in a Pagodes that, if anything, may be too serious for a second wine. In 2018, Pagodes is equal to or better than the top wines from many other châteaux. The blend is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc.

54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Barrel sample.
Dark core with purple rim. Sweeter and spicier than the Goulée (Cos's Médoc wine) just tasted. Bramble and mulberry fragrance. Excellent freshness and finesse in the tannins, dry, compact but lifted by the scented fruit and unusual brightness. Powerful and chalky on the finish. Very good balance already. Long and classy. (JH) 14.9%
Drink 2028-2038

The true second wine of the estate, the 2018 Pagodes De Cos is sensational stuff and clocks in at 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that saw slightly more new oak than usual. Blueberries, cassis, crushed violets, and classy oak all flow to a medium to full-bodied effort that has incredible class and elegance as well as texture. Fresh, clean, and beautifully balanced, it’s a terrific wine in its own right.

Full of liquorice and dark chocolate, the nose is immediately seductive. This is a second wine that's full of fleshy, sexy, bright fruit and real elegance. It's a lovely wine, if clearly marked by the generosity of the vintage. The 30hl/ha yield was affected by a mix of mildew and some concentration in September. To control extractions, they macerated at a lower temperature of 27-28°C. As with the grand vin, this is aged in 20% new oak, down a little on the usual amount. 3% Petit Verdot completes the blend.

Drinking Window 2024 - 2036

(54 Cabernet Sauvignon, 37 Merlot, 6 Petit Verdot, 3 Cabernet Franc) | 20% new oak | 14.5% alc | 30 hl/ha | 33% production goes into this wine | 72 IPT Rather controlled, a little quiet and introverted, rather in the shadow of the Grand Vin and rather closed and reticent, too. I am sure that this will unravel and show its charms in due course.