A bit closed in the beginning but opened up after 1 hour (should have decanted it) velvety and smooth but with very vibrant tannins that were well integrated. Some fruit still left. decently long finish. Lovely wine
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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.
TN: Very ripe dark red fruit, a bit alcoholic, on a downhill path. On the palate slightly astringent but with quite fresh ripe red fruit. But not much more than that. A bit astringent with time and slightly drying. I feel that 89pts is even a bit generous but others liked it better. I was a bit underwhelmed with the 2003 before (rated 90pts two years ago) and found a it a bit disjointed too.
Decanting: Air didn’t seem to help here. I wouldn’t decant.
Group average: 90.8 pts Group rank: Shared 17th out of 29 reds
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Grand Bordeaux 2003 horizontal tasting (Fribourg): Bordeaux 2003 vintage horizontal hosted by a private collector and moderated by Jean-Marc Quarin. Main observations: 1/ Average quality is acceptable, but weighted down by various low-lights, esp. on the right bank. 2/ In general a tannic vintage, lacking balance. 3/ Top 3 wines were Lafite, Mouton and Margaux (all 95). See the tasting story for a complete overview and additional vintage comments.
Tasting note: Nicely extracted dark berry fruit with sweet spice of vanilla and mocha. A delicate frame of aging notes of tobacco and leather. Fruity and fresh palate with a good length finish. However, with time in the glass this started to feel fragile, hence not sure about the structural integrity in case of continued aging going forward.
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No decanting. Tobacco, earth, rather „rough“ on the nose and palate for a right bank bordeaux. high acidity, medium alc, medium+ tannins. firm and lenghty finish. decanting recommended for at least 2 hours.
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12 Vintages of L’Eglise-Clinet vs La Conseillante (1993-2015): Enlightening head to head of two Pomerol heavyweights. All wines tasted single blind, not decanted. A few observations: 1) La Conseillante (LC) is the winner with 7 vs 5 wins, a higher average score (92.1 pts vs 90.8 pts) and a much better consistency over the years. 2) The LC showed more harmonious and inviting, less extracted and with a good ripeness as well as a seductive creaminess. 3) L’Eglise-Clinet (EC) only started to get good to great in the past 10 to 15 years. Most older wines showed too ripe, too extracted and often with a drying finish. 4) Not surprisingly, the best vintages got the highest scores (2015, 2010, 2009) with the highest scores awarded to the EC 2010 and 2015 (96 pts), LC 2015 (95 pts) as well as a quite strong LC 2003 (95 pts). 5) The race for the better Pomerol is open! Since 2015, L’EC got higher critic scores than LC as well as more perfect scores (11 vs 5; 17 critics/6 vintages) but I’m not yet sure if I like the riper and slightly bolder style of the EC (and LC is not really famous for its lightness or restraint either). But I got the feeling (or hope?) that the more recent vintages of EC will at least age much better than their older counterparts.
TN: This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This vintage showed less overripe than the previous vintages and had some fresh forest berries beside ripe red fruit as well as a lot of minerality and herbs. The tannins are not perfect and I think the finish is a bit drying but maybe the wine would have just needed more air. It misses a bit of creaminess too but overall a solid effort but still not grandezza here and not a wine to chase. But no comparison to the great Conseillante 2003.
Decanting: Not decanted, I would give it at least an hour in the decanter.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 95 pts.
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A bottle that took a long time to open. The rim in the glass is almost unicolor ... no signs of aging. The warmth of the vintage is detectable with fairly ripe fruit aromas but the wine retains a certain acidity which refreshes the whole. Much more beautiful on the second day. A very good pomerol but which still needs 5 to 10 years to be more approachable. The 2003 clinet is currently a better alternative.
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Gorgeous, meticulously correct Pomerol here. Lots of blue fruit and cinnamon on the nose- still quite primary after 15+ years! First sip is really well done with blossoming flower and fruit to start, and then secondary and tertiary notes- tar and leather with a very very faint brett component emerging on the finish, with a noticeable but not intrusive tannic spine holding it together. This carries its alcohol very well despite the hot vintage, very distinctly right bank despite a few concessions to the New World forced by the climate.
I would probably consider this very close to peak- although it could certainly stand up to 10+ more years of aging, everything is just so *precisely* in the right place now, it's hard to see how anyone who likes Bordeaux could dislike this right now.
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I bought a case of this en primeur. This was, unfortunately, the last bottle. I have to say that undoubtedly Robert Parker has proved to be right and Jancis Robinson wrong. If anyone reading this is, like me, old enough to remember the spat they had over this wine when it was released, it's an interesting outcome.
It came home to me after opening a bottle about 10 years ago, drinking a couple of glasses, putting the cork back in, going to Egypt for two weeks and drinking the rest following my return to the UK. I was expecting vinegar, but the wine was just starting to open up. This is definitely a wine with immense potential to age.
It is just starting to enter it's drinking window. Powerful tannins, elegant and beautifully structured. Going to have to buy another case..
Not least because it made an excellent ingredient in the Christmas gravy, the recipe for which suggested the addition of a a good Pomerol. Hard to think of a better one unless you have 2000 Petrus to hand .Which I don't because unfortunately it's all gone ��.
Having had a number of truly excellent bottles of this wine, today's example was really quite puzzling. Very closed initially, and didn't really flourish in the decanter. Might have been an off bottle, but no particular fault that I could detect. Just seemed to be very closed? I guess that is one of the many beauties of wine, no two bottles ever seem to be exactly the same!!!
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Regular dinner group (@ MH): A lot of dark berries, licorice, tobacco, earth and smoke in the bouquet. On the palate dark berries as well, barnyard, chocolate, firm acidity and a touch of sweetness. Not sure if this is a slightly off bottle. Anyway, the wine did not impress as much as 18 months ago.
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A private tasting (at home): Tasted blind. Not completely clean on the nose, deep but slightly oxidative, opens up well in the glass, chocolate, coffee and tar, raspberry, tannic, soy and cabbage finish. Strangely, this holds up very well over two days in the open bottle, and seems to only become fresher. Puzzling.
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Right bank blind tasting. Stellar wine that continues to defy the idea that Pomerol was unsuccessful in this vintage. Violet crumble, dark cherries, some plum, mint and earth. Really complex but I still think youthful. Just humming along. Group rated this close second to 1998 Cheval Blanc, which says a lot in my book. Interesting that a 1985 Petrus came in third too!!! Poor (and incorrect) press reviews means this is still very affordable, and grest value. Highly recommended.
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Regular dinner group (@ MH): In the bouquet some pleasant barnyard, red berries, bell pepper and earthy impressions. On the palate red and dark forest fruits, earth and bell pepper again. Good acidity and some drying, slightly sticky tannin. It might sound a bit controversial for a hot vintage wine, but believe me; the wine is really good and still has a future of several years.
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Clearly lighter in the glass compared to the leoville poyferre 2003 it was drank alongside. Lots of coffee that totally dominates the nose. Medium bodied. Still surprisingly tannic. Needed hours and hours to truly soften. Drink now (with lots or air) to 2030.
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ripe but structured, lots of blueberry and chocolate. Young, still powering along, still superb. No problem drinking now, but it should improve for at least five more years. Excellent!!!
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3 hrs in the decanter. Warm, carressing nose of ultraripe prunes, cinnamon spice, gingerbread, melting creamy chocolate, coffee beans and toasty oak. Really suave and utterly digestible thanks to a great acidic core. Best 03-Right-Banker I ever had...
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Tight nose. Not much fruit. Lacks complexity on the palate and ends pretty short. Not worth the money even though it's already selling at a fraction of the other vintages. RP is right to give a low score.
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Half bottle from my collection. This was quite corked. First time I gave up drinking my own wine at a restaurant. The first wiff from the glass was like 10 years of corkiness stored up, exploding in the glass. It took some time for me to recover. Aside from cork the nose was muted and the palate was fruity but flat. Clearly not as it should be.
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Friday Night Double Blind Tasting $40+ (Bin 75): Dark red, clarity, crimson rim; glycerin, sappy, currant, red cherry, pencil lead; fatter on the palate, higher alcohol, medicinal, anise, cedar, cherries jubilee, softer texture but firm tannins come out with air, glycerin, firm and young; everyone struggled placing this as did I at first but ended up with '03 Right Bank; delicious.
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Good colour. Dark and glowing with only some slight discolouration around the rim. Expressive and rich on the nose showing good depth - sweet dark fruit, spices, smoke, tobacco, graphite. On the palate at first well balanced, fresh with sweet fruit but not very complex or long. Fading quite dramatically with some time in the decanter and becoming increasingly drying and angular towards the finish. Drink up. 88-90
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I should say that I like this wine a lot.It has a very deep red color (almost opaque) and it is full bodied.Needs decanting almost 2-3 hours or more and I think that it will drinking pleasantly next years.My opinion is that it will not benefit from further cellaring.Well made tannins,lots of red fruits,cherries,chocolate,graphite,ink.Nose needs a lot of time to open and she is little shy.
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PnP, started to find some depths for the first hour, and then crashed quickly. The "91" is because that was a really nice hour that suggested other vintages are probably worth seeking out. This was from a .375 for which I paid "only" $50. However that represents lousy QPR. This might be the wine I enjoyed the least for which I paid the most.
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The color is showing its age, the nose the finer points of cherries, the palate its soft, ripe, smooth textures. There is no reason to age this further as this is fully ready to drink and is not going to make old bones.
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Opened 6 hours in advance, rich savoury nose, with some Menthol and dreid tea. Stunning complex wine with a very long finish, fresh acidity and the Tannins are starting to soften. Not quite sure why this wine has received such poor Reviews, in the next 5 to 10 years this wine will be sensational.
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I am not too sure why this brilliant wine appears to be so under-rated, perhaps I was lucky to receive a special case!!! Still dark red, black, with no signs of age at all. Dark, brooding palate of black fruits, chocolate, christmas cake, mint and anise, this has a kaleidoscope of flavours and length to burn. Still has a tannic bite to the finish, this will be a miraculous wine in another decade. So many critics are calling the right bank a disaster in 03, but this wine and Ausone are simply stunning. Tasted three times over the past 24 months with consistent notes.
A mystery solved. Pnp a splash of this - instant and acute aromas of depth and charm. I'm learning the Pomerol nose and it hits me somewhere beyond language - it's elegant and pleasurable. The taste is lovely at first and lingering. But after a couple hours, a problem: it starts to taste like it was filtered through a paper cone. The aftertaste is flat. I think this is a victim of the vintage. From a 375 so it might have evolved faster than the 5ths.
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Ruby/garnet color. Full aromas of blueberry and plum with some cocoa and clove. Full bodied and very smooth on the palate with almost fully integrated tannins, perhaps slightly one dimensional. The finish was very long and kept on lingering. Very smooth, not much aging potential here. Drink now!
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Color: dark red Nose: intense, black berries, Palate: full bodied, lovely balance, very nice texture with good depth, just right amount of ripeness not over done, blackberries & raspberries, a delicious pomerol that is just about entering it's drinking window but will improve with age ideally open in 2-3 years, classy
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Served with rack of lamb on Christmas. Clear garnet with a tint of brick or tea. Nose of leather, plum, cassis, blackberry, vanilla. Ripe, balanced palate of plum, blackberry, and currant. Excellent length. Focused, food-friendly acidity. Integrated oak. Sweet tannins. Showing very well.
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Solid- way too young still - hard to believe. Purple to burnt orange on the eyes. Nose of cherry and dark fruit. Undertone of chocolate. Tannins are balanced wonderfully with an impressive finish. Wait 10 years if wise. Beautiful wine.
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Le Pin tasting at Metro. Looking youthful still, dark core with ruby rim. Thought there'd be a noticeable ripeness to it given the vintage, yet not at all. The wine gives out a rather mild bouquet of coffee, cocoa, spice, raspberry. Similar notes on the palate, good fruits, mushroom, with a hint of bitterness near the back behind the chewy tannins. The wine is at a good place, an hour or two decanting would serve it good.
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Chocolate, licorice, black raspberries, black cherry, jam, raisin and fig create the aromatics. On the palate, the wine is pure Pomerol with lush, sexy textures. The finish that does not display any character of over ripeness or cooked flavors often connected with the vintage. In fact, I was more than surprised I liked this wine so much. This is not a wine for long aging. I'd drink it over the next 5-7 years.
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Very good quality Pomerol with deep ruby color, a fairly intense nose showing fair complexity, developing characters of black cherry and blackberry, plum, toast, cedar and tobacco, juniper and liquorice. Good acidity but having a slightly gripping tannin, if given more time for the tannin to soften it would be even better. Fairly full-bodied, the flavors are reasonably intense and complex, with black cherry and blueberry, toast, liquorice, plum and cream. The wine has a reasonable finish, and is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 5-7 years.
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Dinner with Monthly Group at Kingyo (Kingyo, Marina Square): This rounded up a trio of nice little wines that we had. Rather too young to drink and we had no decanter, so the wine was poured and left in our glasses for an hour or so as we awaited the arrival of a braised beef dish. When we got round to it, the nose showed a slight 2003 toastiness to its otherwise classic Right-bank notes of fresh black cherries and plums, earth, tobacco and sweet wood spice. With eveb more time, I thought I picked up just a tiny hint of meat rising in the background. A tight nose, but pretty attractive. The palate was quite nice too. It still had a good firm grip to it, with fine tannins coating the mouth in a slightly powdery layer before well-defined flavours of fresh dark cherries, cassis and plums nestled on the midpalate alongside bits of tobacco and spice at the nice fresh finish. Very well-controlled given the heat of the 2003 vintage - the fruit expression was fresh rather than stewed or cooked. I enjoyed this in spite of its youth, and can only see this improving in the coming years. It may not be the plushest or classiest Pomerol around, but it should give quite a bit of pleasure. One to try again in another 5-7 years.
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Tasted blind: Deep purple in color. Nose of plum jelly, rich berry notes. Still some tartiness to it but very complex, long and powerful^. One truly feels the 2003 heat. Almost a dark berry licquour. I do think this wine still has plenty of reserves left and is likely the best 2003 Pomerol I have tasted so far. Drink with no hurry and give the wine some air to fully open up.
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Not sure I understand why RB 2003 is so maligned. Ran through some high/medium end CA cabs the night before (Lamborn, Gemstone, Hestan) and they couldn't best this wine, which I do not find reflects any sort of stewed fruit characteristic (as are reputed for the RB's from 2003). Tannins were relatively soft and the fruit was evident, but this wine would not be mistaken for a CA cab. I don't think this is a long-term ager, but it does not appear to be in danger of falling apart for several years. Not sure this is worth the $60 to $80 you can find this for from time to time, but it is a nice drink.
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3/16/2024 - Rugan wrote: 93 Points
A bit closed in the beginning but opened up after 1 hour (should have decanted it) velvety and smooth but with very vibrant tannins that were well integrated. Some fruit still left. decently long finish. Lovely wine
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7/31/2023 - jkoenen wrote: flawed
Second bottle....: Corked!! :((
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7/31/2023 - jkoenen wrote: flawed
Dead, completely maderised. :(
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5/7/2023 - Cailles wrote: 91 Points
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.
TN: Very ripe dark red fruit, a bit alcoholic, on a downhill path. On the palate slightly astringent but with quite fresh ripe red fruit. But not much more than that. A bit astringent with time and slightly drying. I feel that 89pts is even a bit generous but others liked it better. I was a bit underwhelmed with the 2003 before (rated 90pts two years ago) and found a it a bit disjointed too.
Decanting: Air didn’t seem to help here. I wouldn’t decant.
Group average: 90.8 pts
Group rank: Shared 17th out of 29 reds
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3/20/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 92 Points
Grand Bordeaux 2003 horizontal tasting (Fribourg): Bordeaux 2003 vintage horizontal hosted by a private collector and moderated by Jean-Marc Quarin. Main observations: 1/ Average quality is acceptable, but weighted down by various low-lights, esp. on the right bank. 2/ In general a tannic vintage, lacking balance. 3/ Top 3 wines were Lafite, Mouton and Margaux (all 95). See the tasting story for a complete overview and additional vintage comments.
Tasting note:
Nicely extracted dark berry fruit with sweet spice of vanilla and mocha. A delicate frame of aging notes of tobacco and leather. Fruity and fresh palate with a good length finish. However, with time in the glass this started to feel fragile, hence not sure about the structural integrity in case of continued aging going forward.
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12/18/2022 - Larslatour wrote: 94 Points
Favorit producer. So elegant
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11/9/2021 - La Sprezzatura Likes this wine: 93 Points
No decanting.
Tobacco, earth, rather „rough“ on the nose and palate for a right bank bordeaux.
high acidity, medium alc, medium+ tannins. firm and lenghty finish.
decanting recommended for at least 2 hours.
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9/19/2021 - Cailles wrote: 90 Points
12 Vintages of L’Eglise-Clinet vs La Conseillante (1993-2015): Enlightening head to head of two Pomerol heavyweights. All wines tasted single blind, not decanted. A few observations: 1) La Conseillante (LC) is the winner with 7 vs 5 wins, a higher average score (92.1 pts vs 90.8 pts) and a much better consistency over the years. 2) The LC showed more harmonious and inviting, less extracted and with a good ripeness as well as a seductive creaminess. 3) L’Eglise-Clinet (EC) only started to get good to great in the past 10 to 15 years. Most older wines showed too ripe, too extracted and often with a drying finish. 4) Not surprisingly, the best vintages got the highest scores (2015, 2010, 2009) with the highest scores awarded to the EC 2010 and 2015 (96 pts), LC 2015 (95 pts) as well as a quite strong LC 2003 (95 pts). 5) The race for the better Pomerol is open! Since 2015, L’EC got higher critic scores than LC as well as more perfect scores (11 vs 5; 17 critics/6 vintages) but I’m not yet sure if I like the riper and slightly bolder style of the EC (and LC is not really famous for its lightness or restraint either). But I got the feeling (or hope?) that the more recent vintages of EC will at least age much better than their older counterparts.
TN: This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This vintage showed less overripe than the previous vintages and had some fresh forest berries beside ripe red fruit as well as a lot of minerality and herbs. The tannins are not perfect and I think the finish is a bit drying but maybe the wine would have just needed more air. It misses a bit of creaminess too but overall a solid effort but still not grandezza here and not a wine to chase. But no comparison to the great Conseillante 2003.
Decanting: Not decanted, I would give it at least an hour in the decanter.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 95 pts.
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1/23/2021 - hargy Likes this wine: 92 Points
lovely wine and one of the better 2003's - I am not sure this will improve much but equally there is no rush to drink
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3/26/2020 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 92 Points
A bottle that took a long time to open. The rim in the glass is almost unicolor ... no signs of aging. The warmth of the vintage is detectable with fairly ripe fruit aromas but the wine retains a certain acidity which refreshes the whole. Much more beautiful on the second day. A very good pomerol but which still needs 5 to 10 years to be more approachable. The 2003 clinet is currently a better alternative.
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2/25/2020 - Larslatour Likes this wine: 93 Points
Birthday wine. Beautiful warm full body wine, sweet fruit.
Just read how important the Cabarnet Franc is to make the merlot flower.
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1/12/2020 - bubnos Likes this wine: 95 Points
Gorgeous, meticulously correct Pomerol here. Lots of blue fruit and cinnamon on the nose- still quite primary after 15+ years! First sip is really well done with blossoming flower and fruit to start, and then secondary and tertiary notes- tar and leather with a very very faint brett component emerging on the finish, with a noticeable but not intrusive tannic spine holding it together. This carries its alcohol very well despite the hot vintage, very distinctly right bank despite a few concessions to the New World forced by the climate.
I would probably consider this very close to peak- although it could certainly stand up to 10+ more years of aging, everything is just so *precisely* in the right place now, it's hard to see how anyone who likes Bordeaux could dislike this right now.
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12/25/2019 - Wunner Likes this wine: 93 Points
I bought a case of this en primeur. This was, unfortunately, the last bottle. I have to say that undoubtedly Robert Parker has proved to be right and Jancis Robinson wrong. If anyone reading this is, like me, old enough to remember the spat they had over this wine when it was released, it's an interesting outcome.
It came home to me after opening a bottle about 10 years ago, drinking a couple of glasses, putting the cork back in, going to Egypt for two weeks and drinking the rest following my return to the UK. I was expecting vinegar, but the wine was just starting to open up. This is definitely a wine with immense potential to age.
It is just starting to enter it's drinking window. Powerful tannins, elegant and beautifully structured. Going to have to buy another case..
Not least because it made an excellent ingredient in the Christmas gravy, the recipe for which suggested the addition of a a good Pomerol. Hard to think of a better one unless you have 2000 Petrus to hand .Which I don't because unfortunately it's all gone ��.
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9/23/2018 - felixp Likes this wine: 90 Points
Having had a number of truly excellent bottles of this wine, today's example was really quite puzzling. Very closed initially, and didn't really flourish in the decanter. Might have been an off bottle, but no particular fault that I could detect. Just seemed to be very closed?
I guess that is one of the many beauties of wine, no two bottles ever seem to be exactly the same!!!
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8/4/2018 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Regular dinner group (@ MH): A lot of dark berries, licorice, tobacco, earth and smoke in the bouquet. On the palate dark berries as well, barnyard, chocolate, firm acidity and a touch of sweetness. Not sure if this is a slightly off bottle. Anyway, the wine did not impress as much as 18 months ago.
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8/31/2017 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 90 Points
A private tasting (at home): Tasted blind. Not completely clean on the nose, deep but slightly oxidative, opens up well in the glass, chocolate, coffee and tar, raspberry, tannic, soy and cabbage finish. Strangely, this holds up very well over two days in the open bottle, and seems to only become fresher. Puzzling.
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3/26/2017 - felixp Likes this wine: 97 Points
Right bank blind tasting. Stellar wine that continues to defy the idea that Pomerol was unsuccessful in this vintage.
Violet crumble, dark cherries, some plum, mint and earth. Really complex but I still think youthful. Just humming along.
Group rated this close second to 1998 Cheval Blanc, which says a lot in my book. Interesting that a 1985 Petrus came in third too!!!
Poor (and incorrect) press reviews means this is still very affordable, and grest value. Highly recommended.
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12/17/2016 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Regular dinner group (@ MH): In the bouquet some pleasant barnyard, red berries, bell pepper and earthy impressions. On the palate red and dark forest fruits, earth and bell pepper again. Good acidity and some drying, slightly sticky tannin. It might sound a bit controversial for a hot vintage wine, but believe me; the wine is really good and still has a future of several years.
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11/12/2016 - _water.into.wine_ Likes this wine: 91 Points
Clearly lighter in the glass compared to the leoville poyferre 2003 it was drank alongside. Lots of coffee that totally dominates the nose. Medium bodied. Still surprisingly tannic. Needed hours and hours to truly soften. Drink now (with lots or air) to 2030.
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8/27/2016 - felixp Likes this wine: 97 Points
ripe but structured, lots of blueberry and chocolate. Young, still powering along, still superb. No problem drinking now, but it should improve for at least five more years. Excellent!!!
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5/14/2016 - jkoenen wrote: 94 Points
3 hrs in the decanter. Warm, carressing nose of ultraripe prunes, cinnamon spice, gingerbread, melting creamy chocolate, coffee beans and toasty oak. Really suave and utterly digestible thanks to a great acidic core. Best 03-Right-Banker I ever had...
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11/16/2015 - Philip Yang wrote: 87 Points
Tight nose. Not much fruit. Lacks complexity on the palate and ends pretty short. Not worth the money even though it's already selling at a fraction of the other vintages. RP is right to give a low score.
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10/24/2015 - Lord Rayas wrote: 93 Points
Dinner with Peter, Jesse and the Donohughs (Nadaman): sweet and seductive. not the most complex but drinking very well after an hour in decanter.
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7/31/2015 - Bordeaux_Jon wrote: flawed
Half bottle from my collection. This was quite corked. First time I gave up drinking my own wine at a restaurant. The first wiff from the glass was like 10 years of corkiness stored up, exploding in the glass. It took some time for me to recover. Aside from cork the nose was muted and the palate was fruity but flat. Clearly not as it should be.
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7/25/2015 - Rezy13 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Friday Night Double Blind Tasting $40+ (Bin 75): Dark red, clarity, crimson rim; glycerin, sappy, currant, red cherry, pencil lead; fatter on the palate, higher alcohol, medicinal, anise, cedar, cherries jubilee, softer texture but firm tannins come out with air, glycerin, firm and young; everyone struggled placing this as did I at first but ended up with '03 Right Bank; delicious.
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5/27/2015 - rossi.wine wrote: 89 Points
Good colour. Dark and glowing with only some slight discolouration around the rim. Expressive and rich on the nose showing good depth - sweet dark fruit, spices, smoke, tobacco, graphite. On the palate at first well balanced, fresh with sweet fruit but not very complex or long. Fading quite dramatically with some time in the decanter and becoming increasingly drying and angular towards the finish. Drink up. 88-90
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5/24/2015 - ntanik Likes this wine: 94 Points
I should say that I like this wine a lot.It has a very deep red color (almost opaque) and it is full bodied.Needs decanting almost 2-3 hours or more and I think that it will drinking pleasantly next years.My opinion is that it will not benefit from further cellaring.Well made tannins,lots of red fruits,cherries,chocolate,graphite,ink.Nose needs a lot of time to open and she is little shy.
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5/19/2015 - ledocq Likes this wine: 91 Points
PnP, started to find some depths for the first hour, and then crashed quickly. The "91" is because that was a really nice hour that suggested other vintages are probably worth seeking out. This was from a .375 for which I paid "only" $50. However that represents lousy QPR. This might be the wine I enjoyed the least for which I paid the most.
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5/14/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
The color is showing its age, the nose the finer points of cherries, the palate its soft, ripe, smooth textures. There is no reason to age this further as this is fully ready to drink and is not going to make old bones.
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4/12/2015 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 91 Points
Color: dark red
Nose: barnyard, earth & black berries
Palate: medium bodied, short abrupt finish, a simple pomerol
Rating: 91
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4/7/2015 - assaggi Likes this wine: 98 Points
Opened 6 hours in advance, rich savoury nose, with some Menthol and dreid tea. Stunning complex wine with a very long finish, fresh acidity and the Tannins are starting to soften. Not quite sure why this wine has received such poor Reviews, in the next 5 to 10 years this wine will be sensational.
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2/18/2015 - felixp Likes this wine: 98 Points
I am not too sure why this brilliant wine appears to be so under-rated, perhaps I was lucky to receive a special case!!!
Still dark red, black, with no signs of age at all.
Dark, brooding palate of black fruits, chocolate, christmas cake, mint and anise, this has a kaleidoscope of flavours and length to burn. Still has a tannic bite to the finish, this will be a miraculous wine in another decade.
So many critics are calling the right bank a disaster in 03, but this wine and Ausone are simply stunning.
Tasted three times over the past 24 months with consistent notes.
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2/13/2015 - ledocq Likes this wine:
A mystery solved. Pnp a splash of this - instant and acute aromas of depth and charm. I'm learning the Pomerol nose and it hits me somewhere beyond language - it's elegant and pleasurable. The taste is lovely at first and lingering. But after a couple hours, a problem: it starts to taste like it was filtered through a paper cone. The aftertaste is flat. I think this is a victim of the vintage. From a 375 so it might have evolved faster than the 5ths.
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2/1/2015 - ledocq wrote: flawed
Boo. Not terrible but tasted flat. Decanted an hour, lingered over the corpse for 2 more to see if it might come to life. Nope.
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1/22/2015 - Jochems Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ruby/garnet color. Full aromas of blueberry and plum with some cocoa and clove. Full bodied and very smooth on the palate with almost fully integrated tannins, perhaps slightly one dimensional. The finish was very long and kept on lingering. Very smooth, not much aging potential here.
Drink now!
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9/26/2014 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
Color: dark red
Nose: intense, black berries,
Palate: full bodied, lovely balance, very nice texture with good depth, just right amount of ripeness not over done, blackberries & raspberries, a delicious pomerol that is just about entering it's drinking window but will improve with age ideally open in 2-3 years, classy
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12/25/2013 - Wink Likes this wine: 93 Points
Served with rack of lamb on Christmas. Clear garnet with a tint of brick or tea. Nose of leather, plum, cassis, blackberry, vanilla. Ripe, balanced palate of plum, blackberry, and currant. Excellent length. Focused, food-friendly acidity. Integrated oak. Sweet tannins. Showing very well.
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12/15/2013 - Stockgorilla wrote: 95 Points
Solid- way too young still - hard to believe. Purple to burnt orange on the eyes. Nose of cherry and dark fruit. Undertone of chocolate. Tannins are balanced wonderfully with an impressive finish. Wait 10 years if wise. Beautiful wine.
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12/14/2013 - Cheungtp wrote: 92 Points
Le Pin tasting at Metro. Looking youthful still, dark core with ruby rim. Thought there'd be a noticeable ripeness to it given the vintage, yet not at all. The wine gives out a rather mild bouquet of coffee, cocoa, spice, raspberry. Similar notes on the palate, good fruits, mushroom, with a hint of bitterness near the back behind the chewy tannins. The wine is at a good place, an hour or two decanting would serve it good.
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9/7/2013 - drgradowski Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drunk in Curitiba, Brasil
I love this wine!
Full body, lots of fruits, complex nose, tobacco, red fruits, black fuits
Good for more 15 years
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5/18/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
Chocolate, licorice, black raspberries, black cherry, jam, raisin and fig create the aromatics. On the palate, the wine is pure Pomerol with lush, sexy textures. The finish that does not display any character of over ripeness or cooked flavors often connected with the vintage. In fact, I was more than surprised I liked this wine so much. This is not a wine for long aging. I'd drink it over the next 5-7 years.
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4/12/2013 - peterchoy wrote: 91 Points
Very good quality Pomerol with deep ruby color, a fairly intense nose showing fair complexity, developing characters of black cherry and blackberry, plum, toast, cedar and tobacco, juniper and liquorice. Good acidity but having a slightly gripping tannin, if given more time for the tannin to soften it would be even better. Fairly full-bodied, the flavors are reasonably intense and complex, with black cherry and blueberry, toast, liquorice, plum and cream. The wine has a reasonable finish, and is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 5-7 years.
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2/19/2012 - Paul S wrote: 92 Points
Dinner with Monthly Group at Kingyo (Kingyo, Marina Square): This rounded up a trio of nice little wines that we had. Rather too young to drink and we had no decanter, so the wine was poured and left in our glasses for an hour or so as we awaited the arrival of a braised beef dish. When we got round to it, the nose showed a slight 2003 toastiness to its otherwise classic Right-bank notes of fresh black cherries and plums, earth, tobacco and sweet wood spice. With eveb more time, I thought I picked up just a tiny hint of meat rising in the background. A tight nose, but pretty attractive. The palate was quite nice too. It still had a good firm grip to it, with fine tannins coating the mouth in a slightly powdery layer before well-defined flavours of fresh dark cherries, cassis and plums nestled on the midpalate alongside bits of tobacco and spice at the nice fresh finish. Very well-controlled given the heat of the 2003 vintage - the fruit expression was fresh rather than stewed or cooked. I enjoyed this in spite of its youth, and can only see this improving in the coming years. It may not be the plushest or classiest Pomerol around, but it should give quite a bit of pleasure. One to try again in another 5-7 years.
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2/10/2012 - Wine_lvr wrote: 94 Points
Tasted blind: Deep purple in color. Nose of plum jelly, rich berry notes. Still some tartiness to it but very complex, long and powerful^. One truly feels the 2003 heat. Almost a dark berry licquour. I do think this wine still has plenty of reserves left and is likely the best 2003 Pomerol I have tasted so far. Drink with no hurry and give the wine some air to fully open up.
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5/1/2011 - alion wrote: 88 Points
Disappointing again - wish I'd waited. Creamy, overly oaked for my taste, and still some heat from vintage; darker fruit profile than last year.
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12/24/2010 - eljugo wrote: 92 Points
Not sure I understand why RB 2003 is so maligned. Ran through some high/medium end CA cabs the night before (Lamborn, Gemstone, Hestan) and they couldn't best this wine, which I do not find reflects any sort of stewed fruit characteristic (as are reputed for the RB's from 2003). Tannins were relatively soft and the fruit was evident, but this wine would not be mistaken for a CA cab. I don't think this is a long-term ager, but it does not appear to be in danger of falling apart for several years. Not sure this is worth the $60 to $80 you can find this for from time to time, but it is a nice drink.
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5/10/2010 - sonakul_t wrote: 92 Points
Nice wine...still a little bit tannic but showed good dark fruits and long finish
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3/28/2010 - alion wrote: 88 Points
Disappointing showing. Stewed slightly burnt fruit and overpowering liquorice - out of balance.
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10/23/2009 - alion wrote: 94 Points
Long week, beautiful wine - full, rich, creamy, scented, plum, red fruit and Christmas spice. Fantastic
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