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- UNDER THE FLAG OF FIDELITY -
Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel liked symbols and mottos. A Lion, the symbol of Power, and a Unicorn, the symbol of Purity, surmount the triumphal arch which welcomes visitors. Further on, a dove and the motto "SEMPER FIDELIS":
"Always Faithful". And, repeated a thousand times in his letters, the creed: "Nothing should be neglected". Power, Purity, Fidelity, Perfectionism, these principles have never stopped guiding his successors.
Today's visitor may perhaps be absorded by this frame of mind as he watches the wine growers at work.
For perfectionism demands that many tasks should be done by hand - from pruning, training and tying up the vines (and a hundred other cultivation practices) to harvesting and meticulously selecting the grapes.
These tasks require a 'savoir-faire' which is learnt here from father to son.
- UNDER THE FLAG OF UNIVERSALITY -
It is well-known that Cos's first harvests were sold in India where these wines graced the sumptuous tables of Maharajahs and Nabobs.
The famous Pagodas which surmount Cos's cellars and their door, sent from the palace of Zanzibar, symbolize this pioneering break out into the world trade.
In the days of Louis Gaspard d'Estournel, Queen Victoria and the Tsar of All Russia drank Cos, as did the Emperor Napoleon III who loved this wine so much that he had several thousands bottles sent to the Palace of the Tuileries.
This universal appeal embraced intellectuals; writers as famous as varied such as Stendhal, Jules Verne, Eugène Labiche or Karl Marx loved Cos.
Nowadays, vintages of Cos give rise to auction sales at Sotheby's or Christie's and fill the private cellars of affluent wine lovers all over Europe, Asia and America.
And so the Saint-Estèphe Grand Cru carries on fulfilling its vocation more than ever: that of bringing together the minds and hearts.
