Chateau Cos d'Estournel

Louis Gaspard d’Estournel was born in 1762 during the reign of Louis XV and died in 1853 under Napoleon III, living through the French Revolution and Napoleon’s attempt to seize Europe.

The inheritor of a few vines near the village of Cos, he came to recognise in 1811 the sheer quality of the wine produced and so decided to vinify them separately. Soon Cos d’Estournel’s wines were rocketing above and due to their quality were exported as far as India.

Due to this foreign success he became known as the ‘Maharajah of Saint-Estephe’. His domestic and foreign success prompted him to throw grand celebrations and adorn his property with oriental elements.

In 1852 he could not keep up with the vast debts he had accumulated while beautifying his estate and was forced to sell Cos to a wealthy London banker called Martyns. Martyns graciously allowed Louis to remain on the property he loved so dearly and in 1853 passed away. Two years later his achievements were recognised when the classification of 1855 put Cos among the fifteen Second Growths.

After changing hands back and forth a few times the estate was purchased by Fernand Ginestet, a leading Bordeaux wine merchant. His grandsons Jean-Marie, Yves and Bruno Prats inherited the chateau and ran it tirelessly until it was finally sold in 1998.

It is now owned by the Société des Domaines Reybier but is directed by Jean-Guillaume Prats, great-grandson of Fernand Ginestet, who keeps the family techniques going.

The estate’s vineyards span 170 acres which are divided into 30 parcels, primarily composed of the grape varieties of 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 40 percent Merlot, together with minor cultivation of Cabernet Franc and Petit verdot. The annual production is 32,000 cases.