193. Château Cos d’Estournel, Les Pagodes de Cos Saint-Estèphe, 1998

€40 (sale); 12.5%

€40 in a restaurant is a good price for this. Actually drank in Ryan’s on Parkgate St, Dublin. This is a food-wine, I think, however. Deep purple-garnet with narrow bricking rim. Looked (and smelled) like only hitting early maturity, 7 years after the vintage! Maturing blend of blackcurrant, with some cocoa and cigar complexity, but above-all, roasted or pan-fried meat notes. This would be perfect for a steak. Long flavour of fruit and gentle vanilla-spice. Moderate acidity, but some notable tannic structure suggest reasonable ageing potential going forward, to blend together flavour and texture. Good. Value-for-money??