WTN: 2001 Chateau Cos d'Estournel

[David M. Bueker]

Suave yet with a finishing austerity and kick of tannin that reminds me that the wine is indeed from St. Estephe. This is about as ripe as I want a Bordeaux to be, with ample fruit to balance its tannins (perhaps a bit more vanilla than I prefer, but time can heal that). It makes a great partner to a medium rare steak.

Have you tried the 1998 vintage, David? I am debating opening my bottle, as the Cellar Tracker notes imply it is ready to go and not going to improve very much.

[David M. Bueker]

No I have not, but the '98 vintage was somewhat austere on the left bank, so if you want some fruit in your wine I would suggest sooner rather than later on your bottle. I doubt it is in any danger of being mature though.

As for the CellarTracker notes - BIG grain of salt.

I bought two mixed cases of great growths from the 2001 vintage and am pretty much a fan.
Many of them are drinking well now, although others still need time and will hold for years.

We had the 99 Cos two weeks ago. It was pretty enjoyable and not far off its peak.

Cos changed style radically in 2009, and I don't know if it's just in function of the vintage or if this is the shape of things to come.

Alex R.

[David M. Bueker]

2001 is shaping up to be my favorite Bordeaux vintage of all the ones where I was actively buying (1995-2005). It's certainly the most readily drinkable while still showing promise for the future.

As for the CellarTracker notes - BIG grain of salt.

True that...I just use them as one reference point. They can be amazingly "wrong"

The 2003 Spottswoode we drank a couple of weeks ago was stunning...the Cellartracker notes were somewhat negative!

The problem with Cellar Tracker is the "night and day" opinions you find there.

Sometimes, to know whether a wine is ready to drink or not, I look it up on CellarTracker.

OK, if there were 3 or 4 opinions, that would be one thing.

But sometimes there are 10, 15 or even 20 that cover the whole friggin' breadth of appreciation, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Alex R.

[David M. Bueker]

Indeed the noise level on CellarTracker makes it much harder to use. I have carefully marked "favorite tasters" so that if I see a gold star next to a tasting note I know that it is likely worht a look. Most of the rest I just ignore.