Prestige (Singapore)

GUIDED BY THE VINEYARD

The humble winemaker takes a back seat to nature with Pagodes de Cos, like all wines of Château Cos d’estournel, its CEO RAPHAEL REYBIER tells Gerrie Lim

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The wines of Château Cos d’estournel, considered a Second Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux classifica­tion, are considered breathtaki­ng, but it’s really the second wine Pagodes de Cos – fi rst made in 1994 and formerly called Marbuzet – that is truly majestic. The plots on which Pagodes is grown tend to mature later than the rest of the vineyard, resulting in wines that have lighter tannins yet retain the gorgeous aromas of fruit. The vines aren’t that old – 35 years on average – so one gets to taste the results of gently determined growth.

At a tasting of four Pagodes vintages – 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2015 – held at restaurant 665°F on Level 38 of Andaz ✺ Singapore, my top pick is the 2009, whose intensity and opulence is balanced by a silky freshness, its nose evoking notes of almond paste and melon jam.

The chateau’s CEO Raphael Reybier chooses the 2010. With liquorice and tobacco, and a finish as long as the 2009’s, it exhibits complexity, with unusual characteri­stics that are the result of the terroir’s ability to adapt to atypical weather conditions – a drier summer, though some rain occurred when merlot flowers first appeared.

Meanwhile, the 2011 goes down better than the 2012, which tastes young still, and the 2015 is surprising­ly good and can keep longer than one might expect. Going for around US$230 a bottle, it’s a real sleeper with ripe tannins and lushness to the fruit – a gorgeous blend at 44 percent cabernet sauvignon, 46 percent merlot, 6 percent cabernet franc and 4 percent petit verdot; British wine critic Jancis Robinson says its dark, fragrant aromas are good for 2021-ish drinking.

“The first and most important difference (between the vintages) is the terroir – well, it’s the only difference, really,” says Reybier. “The cabernet is more powerful, and Pagodes uses different plots and vines of different ages. Also, ageing in the barrels is different; we don’t use so much new oak and it’s a really different profile. The idea is you have a wine that you can drink or keep for a while, and you can call it a second wine – though we don’t want it to be a wine that can only give you money.”

Château Cos d’estournel is named after its 19th-century owner, Louis-gaspard d’estournel, who founded it in 1811. Its 91ha estate in St-estephe lies north of Pauillac, on a south-facing gravel ridge just north of its equally famous neighbour, Château Lafite Rothschild. “Cos” in the old Gascon dialect means “hill of pebbles”, which aptly describes the soil – clay, gravel, sand and limestone. “The people from the south say ‘co’ – the ‘s’ is silent – but I say

‘cos’,” shares the 44-year-old, who joined

Cos d’estournel as its ceo in 2013, after completing his Bachelor of Oenology studies at the University of Burgundy. He is pleased to know that I had previously met one of his predecesso­rs, Bruno Prats, who sold the chateau in 1998 to the Merlaut family (owners of the Tailan Group) and Argentinia­n investors, who in turn sold it in 2000 to current owner, entreprene­ur Michel Reybier (Raphael’s father).

In 2003, the winery produced its third wine, Goulee, from a vineyard the Reybiers own in the Medoc, which is half the price of the Pagodes plots and produces 6,000 to 10,000 bottles a year – “not an easy thing to do, though we try to do our best even on affordable wine,” quips Reybier. Cos d’estournel, incidental­ly, also owns the Tokaj-hétszőlő estate in Hungary since 2009.

“The thing is Cos had a good technician in Bruno, but after he left, we had a transfer of precision and oenology. Science takes you out of your comfort zone and it is not us but the vineyard that guides where we go. Every gatekeeper can tell where the vineyard will go, but you cannot cheat or fight nature – you need to let it guide you.”

“Winemaking should be simple and the winemaker has to change his view every year by fine-tuning it,” he explains. “And it’s humbling. We have to watch for climate change. We go into the vineyard to investigat­e the ecosystem, but you have to not spray anything, because it’s biodynamic. In Bordeaux, there can be an over-reliance on technology, and you forget that you are essentiall­y farmers.”

Today’s tasting, he says, “shows different aspects and you can see that we’re not a champagne or a cognac producer – we don’t do a house style. The dna comes from

“Winemaking should be simple and the winemaker has to change his view every year by fine-tuning it” — Raphael Reybier

the grapes, but you get a huge spectrum of spices from our casks and that’s part of our style. Our wines will differ slightly from one vintage to another, but that is the profile of Cos. To do this every year is the tricky part. Sometimes, you find you have too much alcohol or too much tannin, but today, we have more precision and can make wines that are smooth.”

So if he could be a wine varietal, I ask, what would he be? Reybier, practical if also slightly philosophi­cal, muses: “It depends on the vintage. I’d say cabernet now, but 10 years ago, I would say merlot – it was more important and what was driving the vineyard. I also like Petit Verdot; though I don’t grow it myself, I get it from a great viticultur­ist from the Medoc. It’s small production and it’s either very bad or very beautiful – and never the same.”

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 ??  ?? Above: An impressive display of old wines in the estate’s private cellar Right: Les Pagodes de Cos Saint-estephe
Above: An impressive display of old wines in the estate’s private cellar Right: Les Pagodes de Cos Saint-estephe
 ??  ?? Raphael Reybier
Raphael Reybier
 ??  ?? Château Cos d’estournel’s futuristic-looking chai, where wine is aged and stored
Château Cos d’estournel’s futuristic-looking chai, where wine is aged and stored
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