The 2010 Cos d’Estournel is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet colored, it needs a lot of shaking and swirling to unlock notes of crème de cassis, blueberry pie, and Indian spices, leading to fragrant wafts of dusty soil, cigar box, and dried lavender. The palate gracefully grows into a rich, full-bodied behemoth, delivering a rock-solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness to support the taut, muscular fruit, finishing long and minerally.
99+ points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent (Mar 2024)
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Cos d'Estournel unfurls slowly, measuredly, releasing delicate notes of dried mulberries, stewed plums and blackcurrant pastilles before giving way to notions of potpourri, black cherry compote and chocolate box plus touches of dried sage, tobacco and new leather. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid foundation of very firm, grainy tannins and very lively acidity supporting the remarkable intensity of tightly wound fruit layers, finishing very long and fragrant. Give it another 4-5 years in bottle and this will be stunning!
99 points, Wine Advocate (Mar 2020)
The 2010 Château Cos D'Estournel is based on 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot that was pulled from just 55% of the total production and aged in 80% new French oak. Hitting 14.5% natural alcohol, this still dense purple-hued beauty offers extraordinary notes of blackcurrants, unsmoked tobacco, graphite, freshly sharpened pencils, and chocolate. Full-bodied, massively concentrated, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, it has building tannins, a skyscraper-like mouthfeel that opens up with time in the glass, and a great, great finish. Made in a much more focused, precise, and structured style compared to the more flamboyant 2009, it needs another 7-8 years of bottle age and will be a 50, 60, if not 75+ year wine.
98 points, Jeb Dunnuck (May 2023)
There’s clarity and beauty to this wine as always with pure dark berry, stones and spices. Some clove too. Full body, firm and silky tannins and a long finish. Pure and precise wine with so much class. Try in 2020.
98 points, James Suckling (Nov 2015)
Stands head and shoulders above the 2009 at this point, here you get the creaminess and power of a great vintage, with tannins that head towards monster-territory, and yet there is real delicacy and hidden complexity here, gorgeous quality, brilliant stuff, exoistc, incense , cinnamon; 100% new oak.
98 points, Jane Anson (Oct 2024)
The 2010 Cos d'Estournel is cut from a different cloth to the previous vintage. This is much fresher on the nose and crucially displays more typicité, yet it delivers just as much punch as the 2009. Black fruit commingles with melted tar and smoke. A sprig of wild mint surfaces with continued aeration. The palate possesses immense gravitas and dimension, analogous to a magnificent suspension bridge. It is less ostentatious than the 2009, with firmer grip and greater control and sapidity on the finish. Whilst I can understand some might prefer the 2009, the 2010 Cos d'Estournel is just more...Cos d'Estournel, though be warned, it would still benefit from a couple more years in bottle. Magnificent.
97 points, Neal Martin, Vinous (Feb 2025)
A great contrast to the '09, this feels even denser, with dark plum, black currant and fig sauce flavors that pump along. The spine is all graphite and chalk, giving this a riveting feel through the finish. The cut is terrific, no easy feat considering how dense the fruit is. A stunning wine. -- Non-blind Cos-d'Estournel vertical (December 2015). Best from 2025 through 2045. 16,000 cases made.
97 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Mar 2016)