Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Cos d’Estournel & Calon-Ségur
Number two on my list of the big names is Château Cos d’Estournel, and as I have already indicated there has also been a change of management here. For so long associated with the château that his family once owned, Jean-Guillaume Prats has been the face of Cos d’Estournel – in his role as general manager, on behalf of proprietor Michel Reybier – ever since the family sold up. In late 2012 it was announced that he was moving on to pastures new, specifically a new role working for LVMH, a long way from Bordeaux.
His replacement is Aymeric de Gironde (can you think of a more brilliant name for the Bordeaux wine trade?) who greeted me cheerily when I arrived at Cos d’Estournel, once I had finally managed to navigate my way through the cast-iron gate at the side of the property. The gate is all-knowing, and all-seeing, and appears to determine who shall enter, and who shall be denied. There is an intercom beside the gate, equipped with two rather worn-looking buttons (worn by years of frustrated prodding, no doubt) that make no reassurring noise when you press them, leaving the novice visitor unsure as to whether or not they might be broken. There follows silence – no voice will come from the intercom – and inactivity for a seemingly random length of time, before finally – if the all-knowing and all-seeing gate decides you are worthy – it swings open, in a slow and meaningful fashion. It all feels very mysterious. In truth – and I know this having quizzed Aymeric on it – there is a member of staff inside, monitoring arrivals by video camera, and they control your entry, but without a word. I wonder how they decide who goes on gate duty? The last one to arrive for work in the morning, perhaps? Or perhaps whoever picked the lightest load of grapes in the previous harvest gets the job for a year?
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