Chateau Cos Labory St. Estephe Bordeaux Wine

Chateau Cos Labory St. Estephe Bordeaux wine Fifte Growth, producer profile, with wine tasting notes, wine ratings, a history of the property, information on wine making and terroir, along with wine tasting reviews. If you want to read about other Bordeaux wine producers: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Like other Bordeaux wine chateaux in the St. Estephe appellation, Chateau Cos Labory takes the first part of their name from the famous hill of COS. There is history at Cos Labory. Bordeaux wine was being produced at Cos Labory in the late 1700′s when the owner at the time, Pierre Gaston died. His three children drew lots for the estate. It went to his son, Hyacinthe.  Hyacinthe married Anne Pauty and they had an only–child, Marie–Sany. Marie–Sany later married Francois–Armand Labory and the estate was renamed Cos Gaston Labory.  At that time, they were producing more wine than Cos d’Estournel, their closest neighbor.

What happened next changed the makeup of two estates located in the Medoc. Chateau Cos Labory was purchased by Louis–Gaspard d’Estournel, the owner of Chateau Cos d’Estournel.  Gaspard d’Estournel sold the property a few years later after he transferred many of the best vineyard parcels from Cos Labory over to Cos d’Estournel. in 1922, Cos Labory was sold to Ambrosio and Augusto Weber for 200,000 French Francs. The Weber family still own the St. Estephe property today. In 1971, the family added to their holdings in Bordeaux when they purchased another estate in St. Estephe, Chateau Andron Blanquet.

The 18 hectare Bordeaux vineyard of Cos Labory is planted to 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. There is a small amount of Petit Verdot planted in the Left Bank vineyard as well. On average, the vines are 35 years of age. The vines are planted at a density of 8,700 vines per hectare. The terroir of Cos Labory is gravel and limestone soil with patches of clay typical of the St. Estephe appellation.  The property deleafs, but not by hand. They use a burning machine which can cause problems. The heat from the machine can damage the grape skins as they suffer from the burning. They do not practice green harvesting, so yields are high. The wine is vinified in large, 150 hectoliter, stainless steel vats. Chateau Cos Labory is aged in 40% new oak. Interestingly, Chateau Cos Labory is one of the few Bordeaux chateaux to age their wine in American oak. The wine of Chateau Cos Labory is actually aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels. On average, they produce close to 8,000 cases of Bordeaux wine per vintage. There is a second wine, Le Charme Labory.

With a terroir located right next to Chateau Cos d’Estournel, if Chateau Cos Labory used a more labor intensive approach in their vineyard management, they would produce a better Bordeaux wine.

www.cos-labory.com