Pagodes de Cos - Saint-Estèphe 2020

Vinous

89-89

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 Pagodes de Cos has an enticing, vigorous nose, with redcurrant, cranberry, loam and forest floor scents coming through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins (for a Saint-Estèphe). It's powdery in texture with a bit of austerity on the finish. This just needs to flesh out a little. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Vinous

91

byAntonio Gallonithe8/2/2023

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos is very easy to like. Silky tannins and pretty, lifted aromatics play off a core of supple fruit. In most vintages, the Pagodes is perhaps a bit more exuberant. I am curious to see what things look like once the 2020 is in bottle.

Wine Advocate

89

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos is fleshy and dramatic, bursting with aromas of crème de cassis, lilac, spices and creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, rich and textural, it's an unctuous, ripe, modern-styled red that will drink well young.

Wine Spectator

90

byJames Molesworththe3/31/2023

Presents peach, green almond and yellow plum notes that give this a fun, off-beat profile, with a honeysuckle flourish on the finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now. 600 cases made, 90 cases imported.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

Showing even better from bottle than barrel, the 2020 Pagodes De Cos checks in as 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34 % Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Remarkably elegant and balanced, it has a great nose of red and black fruits, sandalwood, tobacco leaf, and spice as well as medium to full-bodied richness on the palate. It's shockingly good and up with the top second wines out there. It will evolve for at least two decades.

The Wine Cellar Insider

93

byJeff Levethe3/22/2023

Spicy, smoky, currants, espresso, flower and licorice create the perfume. On the palate. the medium-bodied, soft, plush and polished wine is almost ready to go. And that's a good thing because you are going to want to dig into all of its layers of ripe, fresh, creamy, lush dark red fruits and their spicy, chocolate edge. For a second wine, this is a fabulous effort. Drink this young while waiting for the Grand Vin to develop. Drink from 2023-2038.

Wines Critic

94

byRaffaele Vecchionethe3/10/2023

Fresh and floral showing notes of hibiscus, guaranà and pomegranate. Green mandarin and bergamot describe the secondary scene augmenting the complexity. Full bodied, very soft tannins and a tasty finale with a more horizontal than vertical profile. Better from 2025.

Vinous

93

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos is dark, sumptuous and super-expressive. There is an element of mystery to the 2020, it’s a wine that is not ready to show all of its charms just yet. Ripe dark cherry, plum, new leather, licorice, tobacco, incense and dried herbs all build nicely in a Pagodes that balances fruit richness and energy.

Vinous

90

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos, which represents around half the volume, no longer displays Graves-like tropes that it did in barrel. It coheres nicely in the glass with quite high-toned black fruit laced with allspice and light iodine scents. The palate is medium-bodied and has retained the smooth veneer that I remarked upon from barrel, gentle grip, quite pure with blackberry, dark chocolate and light cedar notes towards the finish. It's a Deuxième Vin that just wants to give pleasure without making you wait.

TASTED

92

byAndreas Larssonthe7/6/2021

Sweet red berries, kirsch, lightly roasted oak and coffee notes. Nice palate in a classically styled fresh medium bodied shape with pure and elegant fruit, good balance and length, already accessible without lacking structure.

Vinous

90-92

byAntonio Gallonithe6/1/2021

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos is very easy to like. Silky tannins and pretty, lifted aromatics play off a core of supple fruit. In most vintages, the Pagodes is perhaps a bit more exuberant. I am curious to see what things look like once the 2020 is in bottle.

Jeb DUNNUCK

91-93

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/28/2021

The second wine of the château, the 2020 Pagodes De Cos is based on 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and the balance equal parts Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all raised in 30% new barrels. It shows the pure, elegant, concentrated style of the vintage with its fresher dark fruits, graphite, tobacco, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, with beautiful mid-palate concentration, this classic, elegant, focused 2020 is very much in the style of the vintage and will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for 20 years or so.

Vinous

89-91

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos has a well-defined, almost Graves-like bouquet of a mélange of red and black fruit: punnets of freshly picked strawberries and raspberried, and blackberries following later. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannins. This Les Pagodes has a smooth veneer, just a faint wisp of dark chocolate and espresso infusing the predominantly red fruit. A second wine that will probably drink well after one or two years in bottle.

Decanter.com

92

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

Maintains both a spiced kick and creamy texture through the palate, giving form and character. Silky texture, with cinnamon and saffron-laden blackberry fruits. This is precise and confident with sweet and tender tannins, the power is almost hidden at this point but it is there. 38% of overall production. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend.

The Wine Cellar Insider

92-94

byJeff Levethe5/21/2021

Fresh, bright, spicy and almost ready to go. The wine is medium-bodied, savory, lifted and polished. The fresh, red pit fruits are accompanied by tobacco leaf, spice, cigar box and savory notes on the nose, palate and finish. Drink this young while waiting for the Grand Vin to develop. The wine blends 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. 92-94

Wine Advocate

91-93

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/20/2021

The 2020 Les Pagodes de Cos is composed of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. The harvest took place September 10–24 with a yield of 39 hectoliters per hectare. The alcohol weighs in at 13.28% with a pH of 3.85 and an IPT (total phenolic index) of 68. It is being aged in French oak barrels, 30% new. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it sashays out of the glass with pretty, open-knit scents of stewed black plums, boysenberries and warm cassis, plus savory hints of charcuterie, woodsmoke, black truffles and bouquet garni. Medium-bodied, the palate is packed with crunchy black fruit flavors and dried herbs accents, supported by bags of freshness and well-managed, grainy tannins, finishing with great length and a lively skip in its step.

Anthocyanes

93-95

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Très joli nez de fruits noirs, de violette et de mure avec des accents épicés, tout cela dans la fraicheur et la délicatesse. Fumé délicat. Bouche droite, tendue, belle fraicheur avec une allonge formidable et très aérienne. Juteux à souhait. Du croquant. Très belle bouteille qui devrait vieillir admirablement. Très calcaire dans son expression.

Falstaff

92-94

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Kräftiges Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, breitere Randaufhellung. Nuan- cen von reifen Herzkirschen, ein Hauch von Lakritze, kandierte Orangenzesten, feine Gewürznoten. Saftig, reife Kirschen und dunkle Schokolade, wirkt leichtfüßig, gut integrierte Tannine, mineralisch und gut anhaftend, ein vielseitiger Speisenbegleiter.

My Bettane + Desseauve

93

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021

Jamessuckling.com

93-94

byJames Sucklingthe5/4/2021

This is a racy Pagodes with beautiful fruit and tannins that leave a nice, persistent finish. Medium to full body. Savory finish. Tight and clean.