Wine guide
Pagodes de Cos
Vibrant, silky, seductive. No, it’s not your latest Tinder match, but rather Pagodes de Cos, Cos d’Estournel’s celebrated second wine. The term “second wine” however does not really do Pagodes de Cos much justice. One taste and you’ll realise that Pagodes stands in a category all of its own.
An Asian influence
Original owner of the estate Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, was considered a great showman and was a huge lover of all things Asian. Thus he built his castle in the manner of his favourite continent and thus, when it came to naming the estate’s second wine in 1994, Guillaime Prats, the then chief oenologist had no doubts what to call it. It seemed a “no brainer” to name it after the two pagodas of the castle.
A fortuitous coincidence of Estournel’s love affair with Asia is that today, both the first and second wines (and even the third wine, Goulee) are incredibly popular in China. The name is seen as “very poetic and feminine” and is also easy to remember. The high Merlot content of the wine - anything between 36-46% depending on the vintage is, too, a great pull for Asian palettes, and with the Asian wine market maturing as quickly as is it, Cos d’Estournel - and by extension its second wine Pagodes de Cos - are considered among the cream of the crop. A quick internet search will show that Pagodes’ availability in Europe is far beneath its availability in Asia, suggesting export is primarily concentrated trans-Pacific. This difficulty in finding the wine in Europe has pushed the price up and today, Pagodes de Cos is the ninth most searched for wine in St. Estephe.
A fortuitous coincidence of Estournel’s love affair with Asia is that today, both the first and second wines (and even the third wine, Goulee) are incredibly popular in China. The name is seen as “very poetic and feminine” and is also easy to remember. The high Merlot content of the wine - anything between 36-46% depending on the vintage is, too, a great pull for Asian palettes, and with the Asian wine market maturing as quickly as is it, Cos d’Estournel - and by extension its second wine Pagodes de Cos - are considered among the cream of the crop. A quick internet search will show that Pagodes’ availability in Europe is far beneath its availability in Asia, suggesting export is primarily concentrated trans-Pacific. This difficulty in finding the wine in Europe has pushed the price up and today, Pagodes de Cos is the ninth most searched for wine in St. Estephe.
The young and the reckless
Pagodes de Cos has the same sense of power and balance as its older brother, but has a youngster’s advantage of evolving more quickly and thus being ready to drink earlier than Cos d’Estournel. This is a good wine to have on your radar, in your cellar and, why not, on your dinner table too. It is a connoisseur’s wine, reminiscent of its older brother’s intensity and opulence, but with a silky freshness that belies its youth. A sharp 25% rise in the 2017’s value suggests confidence is growing on both sides of the Pacific.
Notable facts and vintages
- Louis Gaspard d’Estournel chose to eschew 19th-century traditionalism by building a chateau that was the image of an Indian palace thus earning him the nickname “the Maharajah of St. Estephe”. These pagodas can be seen on the label of Pagodes de Cos.
- 2017, 2016 and 2014 have been exciting years for Pagodes de Cos, with the first two vintages scoring 92/100 by the Wine Advocate and 2014s offering earning 90 from Neil Martin.
- Antonio Galloni of Vinous scored the 2016 vintage a massive 88/90, describing it as “ An attractive second wine, the 2016 Les Pagodes de Cos is built on finesse and nuance rather than power. Silky and gracious from the outset, the Pagodes is quite expressive today. In 2016, it has a bit more Cabernet Sauvignon than Merlot, yet it remains quite understated in style”.