2002 Cos d'Estournel (from MacArthurs haul)

[marcs]

I was pretty much the first on the scene of the MacArthur's heist after the original discoverers (Jim H. and others) who posted it on the board. I saw the post early the next morning, jumped in my car (I had child care duties so I shamefully lied to my toddler about where we were going), and arrived at the store right around opening the next morning to discover the full range of stuff they had available and the 20th century prices they had marked them with.

I felt a certain amount of guilt since I was a new comer to the board and was free-riding off the info you provided without having put in the years of service to BWE that so many others have. It would have been criminal to cheat the board by taking advantage of the greatest wine bargain I had ever seen and buying every bottle of 2002 Bordeaux they had in the store -- although I was rather tempted. So I restrained myself to 'just' a case and a half.

One result of my restraint was that I only bought 3 bottles of the 02 Cos d'Estournel. I went light on it because I had an additional 5 bottles of it that I had purchased on futures. Well, we cracked the first bottle tonight -- and if the whole thing was a heist, that 2002 Cos was the greatest highway robbery of all.

The color is a bit odd, dark purple but with a brownish tinge. I wouldn't expect bricking so early in a wine's life. But have no fear, this wine is FAN FUCKING TASTIC. One of those bouquets that you can smell as soon as you start pouring it into the decanter. Intense and black-fruited, blackberry/plum/cassis mixed with leaves, leather, and just a touch of dirt. Quite extracted, it was notably tannic for the first half hour or so after the P&P. But the tannins were fine-grained, and while they messed with the texture some at first they did not block perception of the depth and quality of this wine. About 30-45 minutes in the tannic veil lifted almost completely and you were left with a rich, luxurious, wine that had lift and elegance to counterbalance the richness. This is a wine that screamed quality with every sniff and sip. It has many years to go, but it seems to be in early maturity, with the rich fruit mingling with some early secondary notes.

I liked the 02 Palmer and Leoville Barton from this haul quite a bit as well, but this is very clearly a step up. Just more of everything. I imagine that outside of the first growths this is as good a wine as Bordeaux produced in 2002. It's nice that I have the other bottles I got on futures. But you can't have enough of this wine. If I could do this all over again I don't think my conscience could stop me from going in there and demanding all their 2002 Cos.

I do wonder if these wines are a touch advanced -- I had one of my futures bottles (stored at 55 degrees) two years ago, in 2014, and it was shut down super tight. This was really far more giving, felt like a different wine. I noticed the other bottles I've had from this source also felt quite open. But there's a ton of fruit there so I definitely would not say this wine felt damaged in any way. Perhaps just stored at 60 instead of 55 or something.

[JimHow]

Very well done indeed Marcus. I picked up 6 bottles from the MacArthur's heist. I had had a bottle with Nic in Nashville the month before and loved it.

[jckba]

In the name of science marcs, I think you should open one of the 02 Cos's you bought on futures tonight in order to see if the bottle evolution is the same. Tasting the same wine from different storage environments is a topic that has always interested me and you all probably know how the old adage goes that there are no great wines, only great bottles!

[Blanquito]

I plan to open one of my 02 Gloria's from The Haul soon. I had one of my 02 Glorias from my cellared since release stash not long ago so I'll have a good frame of reference.

[stefan]

So YOU are the reason that I could only get two bottles of the '02 Cos, Marc. Fortunately, I was able to fill out a case with the '02 Baron and quite a bit of '02 from other estates.

[Claudius2]

marcs
2002 is an underrated Medoc vintage.
I have been pleased with the wines I have tried.

[JimHow]

Indeed it is, Claudius. And we got the '02 Cos for $39 per bottle in DC last month!

[AKR]

Nice note.

[Blanquito]

I was only able to snag 4 of these in The Haul, along with 6 Pichon Baron and 6 Glorias.

[Comte Flaneur]

You guys made out like bandits - well done. The Cos sounds thrilling.

I often fantasise about ''what if' the clock was turned back say 20 years, what would I buy? Well the answer is take out a mortgage and back up the truck.

[AKR]

If I that magical look back clock, I would have bought OTM calls on AMZN, GOOG etc.

And I would not have taken a certain ski trail, that earned me a sled ride home, and put my surgeon's kid through a semester of college.