Pagodes de Cos 2018 高斯副牌 Saint Estephe (375ml) 《醇酒系列 - FH147》

🏅Wine Advocate 93+ pts

Deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts from the glass with bold notions of Morello cherries, blackcurrant pastilles, plum preserves and spice cake with suggestions of pencil shavings and bouquet garni.  Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with spicy black fruits, framed by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering savory note.

🏅James Suckling 95 pts

Pure aromas of currants, plums, cherries and Spanish cedar follow through to a full body with super concentration of fruit, yet forever polished and long. A cylinder of wonderfully ripe fruit and tannins goes on for minutes.

🏅Wine Spectator 92 pts

This has some alluring fruit, with a mix of creamed plum and loganberry infused with singed woodspice and alder notes. Stylish, with a flash of dark earth on the otherwise polished finish.

🏅Vinous 92 pts

The 2018 Les Pagodes de Cos is racy and punchy in the glass. Dark red cherry, red plum, spice, blood orange and dried herbs and cedar meld together. The 2018 really needs a good bit of air to open. I suspect it is still in a period of closure after bottling. 

🏅Wine Enthusiast 94 pts

This latest release has richness and luscious black fruits that dominate the underlying firmer tannic structure. It is a proper second wine in the sense that it will age well over the medium term, giving drinking pleasure from 2024.

🏅Decanter 92 pts

Ripe fruits of fig and damson that could do with a little more juice in between but this has lots of tannins and lots of black fruits concentrated with St-Estèphe power.

🏅Jeb Dunnuck 92 pts

A young, unevolved yet beautifully pure bouquet of cassis, graphite, damp earth, and cedar gives way to a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, yet fresh, focused Saint-Estèphe that will benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age, and I've no doubt it will still be drinking nicely at age 20. While a lot of second wines are made in a more up-front, charming, ready-to-go style, this has a more serious, age-worthy vibe.

🏅Jancis Robinson 17/20 pts

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.