Why Do Three Towers from the East Stand in a Bordeaux Vineyard?

As we saw in the story of the five First Growths, the 1855 Classification was not the result of a tasting, but a "ranking by track record" based on the actual trading conditions of the time — the record of transactions through négociants. One tier below the First Growths, among the fourteen châteaux named Second Growths (Deuxièmes Crus), each has its own story, distinct from Mouton's campaign for promotion. The first we visit is Château Cos d'Estournel, whose vineyards lie in Saint-Estèphe.

Walking through the vineyards of Saint-Estèphe, three towers come into view in the distance. The structure looks less like a winery than an Eastern palace. Even on closer approach, there is no room resembling a residence. Why does a building like this stand in a Bordeaux vineyard? The answer lies in the trade with India conducted by one man who established his business here at the start of the 19th century.

A Château Built on a "Hill of Pebbles," Where No One Lives

"Cos" means "hill of pebbles" in the Gascon dialect. The slope of this hill is, in fact, gravelly. The founder, Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel (1762–1853), inherited the Cos and Pomys estates in 1791, and around 1811 acquired adjoining land and began vinifying his own wine independently. Through this expansion, the vineyard grew from 14 hectares to 45 hectares.

The château has one feature that is rare even in Bordeaux: there is no residential building anywhere on the property. The tower-topped structure was built from the start solely for vinification and storage, and even the founder himself never lived on the estate. He lived instead in a separate house several hundred meters away — now operating as the hotel "La Maison d'Estournel." A château where the wine lives, but no one does: a striking contrast to the grand residences that many other châteaux built for themselves.

Trade with India Summoned the Towers

D'Estournel is said to have been called the "Maharajah of Saint-Estèphe" for his enthusiasm for travel and trade with India. From the 1830s he began exporting wine to Calcutta and Bombay. According to one account, he produced a wine called "Retour des Indes" ("Return from the Indies"), said to have been aged by sending barrels on a round-trip sea voyage.

The towers — the pagodas — are also said to have begun to be built during this same period, in the 1830s. His experience traveling to India and Asia is said to have been reflected directly in the design of the building. The carved doors, too, are said, according to tradition, to have been brought from the palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Contemporary records to confirm these accounts are scarce, but what is certain is that these towers still serve as a landmark of the vineyard today. A passion for voyages to distant lands summoned Eastern towers into a Bordeaux vineyard — and there is the answer to the question posed at the start of this piece.

From the 1852 Loss of the Château to the Present

Ironically, the founder who built this striking structure never held the honor of the Classification himself. In 1852, financial difficulties forced d'Estournel to give up the château and its vineyards. Three years later, in the 1855 Classification, Cos d'Estournel was named a Second Growth. In the original list, it was recorded as "Cos Destournel" — spelled without an apostrophe. The shift to the current spelling, "Château Cos d'Estournel," reflects the change in orthography that took place across Bordeaux in the latter half of the 19th century, and is distinct from the history of division and renaming seen at châteaux such as Léoville or Pichon. Cases where a growth's rank itself has changed are very few, and Cos d'Estournel has remained a Second Growth, unchanged, since the 1855 Classification to the present day. It should be noted that the two châteaux counted as Second Growths in the village of Saint-Estèphe are Cos d'Estournel and Montrose.

The château subsequently changed hands over the years before being acquired by Michel Reybier in 2000, who continues to own it today. Jean-Guillaume Prats — son of the previous owner, Bruno Prats — led the estate's management until his departure in 2012, after which Emeric de Gironde directed operations; following de Gironde's own departure in 2017, Reybier himself is said to have taken over direct leadership of the estate. On the winemaking side, meanwhile, technical director Dominique Arangoits has led the cellar consistently since 2000, the same year Reybier arrived. In 2023, the neighboring Fifth Growth châteaux Cos Labory and Andron Blanquet were acquired by Reybier's ownership company. This expanded the footprint of Reybier (the ownership company) in Saint-Estèphe, but both châteaux continue to be produced as separate legal entities and separate wines from Cos d'Estournel itself — the Second Growth classification itself remains unchanged. The Eastern towers the founder once dreamed into being still stand today as a landmark of the vineyard in Saint-Estèphe, even as ownership has changed hands many times since.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

• Cos d'Estournel has no residential building at all. The tower-topped structure is used solely for vinification and storage, and even the founder never lived on the estate — it is known as a château where the wine lives, but no one does.
• The second wine, Les Pagodes de Cos, has been made under its current name since the 1994 vintage. "Pagodes" refers to the very Eastern-style towers that symbolize this château.
• The two châteaux counted as Second Growths in the 1855 Classification within the village of Saint-Estèphe are Cos d'Estournel and Montrose. The neighboring Fifth Growth châteaux, Cos Labory and Andron Blanquet, came under the same ownership company in 2023, but continue to operate as separate legal entities from Cos d'Estournel itself.