2003 Château Léoville Barton
Community Tasting Note
Cailles wrote:
Sunday, May 7, 2023 - Bordeaux 2003 – 20 Years On – 33 Reds: All wines tasted blind, not decanted (some wines would have needed it). Observations: 1) 2003 is not a good vintage. The wines don’t have the depth and elegance of good years. But I was positively surprised, that while it’s clearly a hot year, there are less overripe, over-extracted and prematurely dying wines than in 09/10. Still, there is no comparison to how Chateauxs handle hot years today. 2) Compared to five other vintage retrospectives, the 2003 came in last place (lower average score than 2011), with just Chateau Margaux reaching a group score above 95pts. 3) Margaux wines showed best, with the typical immediate charm, while St. Estephe and Pauillac have potential but will need more time (and/or would have needed more air). 4) Right bank wines did not show as good with some alcohol showing and a few wines being on a downhill path. I would not chase 2003 right banks.
At this point in the tasting, my will to drink and analyze another red wine was very low, so take this score and review with a grain of salt. The three Leovilles all had less charm and precision than the Pauillac’s but especially the Margauxs before. From memory, the Poyferre (93pts) was the best of the three Leovilles. This is surprising as it is usually riper and more modern than the two others which doesn’t seem like a great fit for a hot vintage. The wine showed a bit rounder and more harmonious than the others but without an exciting complexity. The Las Cases and Barton (both 92pts) were a step below but probably just would have needed a bit of air to open up.
Decanting: My guess is that this needs a 1-2 hours in the decanter.
Group average: 93.2 pts
Group rank: Shared 18th out of 29 reds
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