2018 Pagodes de Cos Blanc

“What looked like a late harvest turned out to be precocious,” Cos d’Estournel proprietor Michel Reybier and Technical Director Dominique Arangoïts told me. “Harvest stated on September 19 and wrapped up on October 6. Merlot and Cabernet both came in at 14.5% alcohol, which is unusual. Merlot had the tension of Cabernet, and Cabernet had the sweetness of the Merlot. It’s something I have never seen before. Vintage dominates over variety. Dry winds at the end of the season concentrated the fruit. Yields were just 30 hectoliters per hectare, which is down sharply from the upper 40s that are more typical. The grapes were very ripe, so we opted to vinify at lower temperatures than normal,” an approach most winemakers shared in 2018.