We dined with Son Sean and his family, MIchelle and their two daughters, our grand-daughters for whom we babysit for several days each week, including the last couple of weeks.
We ordered several starters before dinner - our usual Pate’, the Escargot and tonight’s special Cerviche
Pâté de deux Sortes - Duck Liver Pâté with Traditional Garnish & Toast Points
Escargots A La Bourguignon - French Snails with Garlic Butter, Pernod & Herbed BreadcrumbsFor our dinner entrees, Linda had one of the daily specials, Pan Seared Alaskan Halibut with bok choy, corn/mango salsa and pomme puree’.
Sean and I both ordered from the menu the regular Duck entree -
Magret et Confit de Canard, Sauce à L’orange - Seared Duck Breast & Leg Confit, Wild Mushrooms, Red Cabbage, Beets, Poached Pear, Sweet Potato Puff
For a special wine with dinner, I pulled from the cellar an aged vintage wine commemorating Sean’s birth year that we took BYOB.
Cos d’Estournel St. Estephe Bordeaux 1985
For a special wine with dinner, I pulled from the cellar an aged vintage wine commemorating Sean’s birth year that we took BYOB.
Chateau Cos d'Estournel is a Grand Cru vineyard located on the road from Pauillac as you enter the St. Estephe appellation. Its oriental facade is adorned with three pagoda turrets.
The estate is situated in the very south of Saint-Estèphe, just north of Pauillac's Lafite Rothschild where the south-facing vineyard slopes gently down to the Jalle du Breuil stream which separates it from the first growth Chateau Lafite Rothschild.
We visited the iconic Chateau Cos d'Estournel with oriental facade adorned with three pagoda turrets and the Grand Cru vineyards in St. Estephe during our visit to Bordeaux in 2019.
Cos d’Estournel St. Estephe Bordeaux 1985
In old Gascon, "cos" means "hill of pebbles", and the vineyard does consist of deep Quaternary gravels and clay on limestone bedrock.
The Chateau Cos d'Estournel estate covers 170 acres separated from Chateau Lafite Rothschild on the southern edge, by the stream between St. Estephe and Pauillac. The gravelly soil, over a flint, limestone and silicate subsoil low in nitrogen, has eroded over centuries to form steep ridges which perfectly drain the vineyards.
The vineyards are planted 60 percent in Cabernet Sauvignon vines, 2 percent of Cabernet Franc, and 38 percent in Merlot. Naturally, the percentage of Cabernet or Merlot in the composition of each vintage depends on the climate which favors one grape variety or the other.
In the 1855 Classification, it was classified as a second growth and remains one of the most prominent and sought-after of all Bordeaux wines. Historically, the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant grand vin has had a high percentage of Merlot compared with other Médoc growths, although this has lessened in recent years.
Cos d'Estournel is known to be dark, brooding and tannic when young, developing complexity and intensity with time.
1985 Cos d'Estournel, St-Estèphe
This release was awarded a concensus 93 points by Wine Advocate, Vinous and Wine Spectator.
Still holding its own at forty years shows the age worthiness of this wine in top vintages and the 1985 from cask could have been a lighter version of the 1982 and 1953 vintages. We’ve held this since acquiring it on release back in the eighties. The foil, label and importantly the cork and fill level were all acceptable for their age. The cork was partly saturated and a bit soft but was able to be extracted by the waiter with his traditional cork screw.
Showing its age, the color was garnet colored and a bit opaque with moderate bricking, medium bodied, ever so slight subdued nose on the concentrated red and black berry and black cherry fruits accented by leather, tobacco and spice with a hints of cedar and pain grille on a moderate finish of fine grained tannins.
Vinous said “This bottle constitutes the best example of the 1985 that I have encountered.”
RM 89 points.
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