The Cos d'Estournel story begins in 1811 with one man, Louis Gaspard d'Estournel.
A travel aficionado, d'Estournel roamed the world for decades before returning to Bordeaux with an invigorated spirit, and the desire to impart his newfound knowledge of different cultures into his own estate. After founding Cos d'Estournel, he became one of the first winemakers in Bordeaux to bottle, label and sell his own wines, the majority of which were exported to India - East Indian influences can still be seen in the architecturally stunning estate to this day.
Several changes of ownership have marked the estate's history, the most recent - and arguably significant - being the takeover of Michel Reybier in 2000. Since Reybier's ownership, winemakers such as Jean-Guillaume Prats and Aymerick de Gironde have done scores to bolster the Chateau's reputation for quality and style. The estate has gone from strength to strength since, with Robert Parker even awarding the 2009 vintage a perfect score of 100 points, calling it 'one of the greatest young wines I have ever tasted'.
The estate today stands as one of the 'Super Seconds', one of Bordeaux's second-class growth Medoc estates whose standards have risen to a level closer to first classed growth. The Chateau possesses some of the best winemaking facilities in the whole of Bordeaux, as well as vineyards averaging around 45 years of age - although some are between 80-100 years old. Their 91ha of vineyards are planted primarily with Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) and Merlot (40%) but with some smaller parcels of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.