It was the year of the Bordeaux fall from grace. Prices climbed disproportionately - after the good 1996 - even though it was a mediocre to modest year. Parker: "A rapidly evolving vintage that, with the exception of the most concentrated wines, will have peaked in 2012... Subscription prices were absurdly high when the wines hit the market..." "Absurdly high," even Parker opined. Château Cos d'Estournel was then one of the main price drivers (1994 = 26 Fr., 1996 = 45 Fr. ,1997 = 65 Fr.) for the "new price level" of classified Bordeaux. Today one may smile about it, but at that time one did not know what the years 2000, 2005 and 2009 would bring. (Cos d'Estournel subscription 2000 = 110 Fr., 2005 = 230 Fr., 2009 = 360 Fr.) With the new "prices in line with the market", the prices of the older vintages also rose, so that this 1997 (Parker points 87!!) today costs approx. 130 Fr. The bottle, which a few years ago was still offered below the subscription price (quasi in discount), is now so "valuable" that one - on an ordinary day - hardly wants to reach into the wine rack to pour it.
I have - just returned from France - nevertheless reached into it. And? The wine has held up better than I thought; it is still an almost flattering, spicy, soft Bordeaux; little tannin, little acidity, little power; but nice aromas, round structure; it has become a pleasing wine, quite stately and full-bodied, with a medium finish.
I don't like to open the bill. Was it worth it? Maybe, certainly at the then (already inflated) subscription price. The main thing - you don't always have to do the math - is if the wine is fun and enjoyable and makes for an enjoyable evening. And this is what it did.