Cos d'estournel
Le château Cos d'Estournel à Saint-Estèphe, dans le Médoc, en Gironde, France. (Photo by François DUCASSE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Photo by François DUCASSE / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Cos d’Estournel 2024 emerged en primeur on Thursday (15 May) at €84 per bottle ex-négociant, which puts this top St-Estèphe second growth among Bordeaux châteaux returning to 2014-vintage-era release pricing.

It was released in the UK at £1,020 per 12-bottle case in bond (IB), said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. 

St-Emilion’s Pavie Macquin 2024 has also been released, at its lowest ex-négociant price since the 2013 vintage. Other debuts this week have included Mouton Rothschild, Les Carmes Haut-Brion and Pichon Baron – in a busy few days for the campaign. 

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Analysis: Cos d’Estournel 2024

Six-bottle case offers have been fairly standard in this campaign and several UK merchants were offering Château Cos d’Estournel 2024 on this basis (£510 IB, Bordeaux Index, Farr Vintners, Vinum Fine Wines). 

While it’s no secret that a challenging Bordeaux growing season has yielded an uneven vintage, Cos d’Estournel has produced one of the clear success stories. 

Decanter’s Georgie Hindle rated Cos d’Estournel 2024 at 96pts in her Bordeaux 2024 vintage report.

‘Freshness is there but ripeness is, too, so you have a great combination of structure and focus…a great effort,’ she wrote.

Analysts offered a mixed view on the wine’s release price, despite a 29% drop versus the 2023-vintage en primeur debut last year. 

Consultancy group Wine Lister said Cos d’Estournel received high confidence scores in its survey of global trade leaders prior to the campaign. 

Yet, it added, ‘Despite the significant effort in terms of year-on-year discount, this release may fail to convince buyers, with several higher-scoring back vintages available for around the same price.’

Liv-ex said, ‘The [Cos d’Estournel] 2024 enters the market above the price of several other physical vintages.’ 

Its data suggested several recent vintages have fallen in price since release – a trend seen on other Bordeaux wines, too. Fine wine prices on the secondary market have dropped in general since late 2022.

Cos d’Estournel Blanc white wine was also released on Thursday, and offered in the UK at the equivalent of £1,284 (12x75cl IB).

Liv-ex data showed the wine is more expensive than several other available vintages, yet Decanter’s Hindle rated Cos d’Estournel Blanc 2024 at 97pts. 

Click here for Hindle’s full review of Bordeaux 2024

Pavie Macquin and Malartic-Lagravière among other new releases

St-Emilion’s Château Pavie Macquin 2024 was one of the later releases on Wednesday (14 May) and its ex-négociant price of €36 per bottle was the lowest since the 2013 vintage, said Liv-ex. 

The wine was offered at £426 (12x75cl IB) in the UK, making it one of the cheapest iterations of this St-Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classé on the market.

Hindle rated Pavie Macquin 2024 94pts en primeur, describing it as ‘juicy, lively, fun, fresh and joyous’. She added, ‘Will need a bit of time to soften, but this is characterful and full of personality.’ 

Among other releases was a debut for Château d’Issan 2024 (94pts, Decanter). It debuted at €32.1 per bottle ex-négociant, translating to a UK offer price of £372 (12x75cl IB). That’s down 17% versus the 2023 vintage release and puts it among the, ‘less expensive vintages on the market’, said Liv-ex.

In Pessac-Léognan, Château Malartic-Lagravière 2024 was also released on Thursday, at €25.8 per bottle ex-négociant and £304 (12x75cl IB) in the UK. While that is below several other available vintages, Liv-ex noted the 2019 and 2020 vintages were slightly cheaper.

St-Juilien’s Château Lagrange 2024 was also released, at €27.6 per bottle ex-négociant and £324 (12x75cl IB) in the UK – down nearly 13% year-on-year.

Click here for more scores from the vintage

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Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.