Medium deep garnet with tawny edge. Aromas of cigarbox, leather, cassis, pencil shaving, cardamom, singed wood and forest floor. Finely grained chewy tannins. Blackcurrant acids and black tea bitterness. Medium to full body. Palate of blackcurrant jam, plum preserve, coffee, Asian spices, stock cube and crushed rock. A mature yet vital and classical Bordeaux with serious ripe dark fruit, bittersweet acidity and not so complex but long spicy and stony delicate finish. Tasted alongside Chateau Petit Village 2005 and the present wine had more elegant and supple fruit and classical Bordeaux style.
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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: Beautiful, classic Pauillac nose, ripe but not too ripe, quite luxurious dark fruit, some burnt sugar notes, some blue fruit and minerality. Good level complex, very precise. On the palate there is fine blue and dark fruit, minerality, some herbs and cedar notes. Not as complex and even a bit hollow on the mid palate and towards the not overly exciting finish. Fine tannins, well-integrated acidity, quite light. This is a very solid effort and drinks beautifully today.
Decanting: No extensive decanting needed.
Group average: 92.8 pts Group rank: Shared 4th out of 29 reds
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: Ripe fruit of black currant and cassis, leather and barnyard, sweet accents - all of which nicely layered. Nice verticality. Fresh palate with dominant acidity and structural tannin, firm but well integrated. Manages pull off a juicy palate with fresh sweet fruit. While less complex than others, this drinks exceptionally well for the vintage.
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A cab-dominant wine palate. Aromas of a tomato leaf, leather, cedar; mostly savory palate with some currant and cherry sweetness in the finish. The maturing fruit highlights the wine's acidity. No need to wait.
Decanted 2+ plus hours, massive on the nose, in a fairly good spot fruit wise, maybe a bit past peak..it became burdensome without food. A little disjointed on the finish, out of balance would be a better adjective, other than that all good. Drink now-2020?
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Deep ruby. Quite a floral lift to the densely blackcurranty nose. Quite smooth with good blackcurrant fruit and a slight creaminess on the attack. There's a persistent sense of dryness on the finish though — red meat combats this quite nicely though it would get a bit wearing on its own. A decent effort for 03, and only 12.5abv, but the tannins are a little grainy at the end. Lovely nose though. ***1/2
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This may be the highest score I've ever given here or elsewhere for a Margaux other than Chateau Margaux or Palmer. A juicy modern style Bordeaux on the black fruit side. Wonderfully mouth filling purity. If lacking, it is on the finish. But understand, this wine would be blown away by say an average 2000 Bordeaux given the structure those wines by and large have. While 2003 is ranked as a nothing special vintage by the usual measures, it is a vintage that offers plenty and then some of very generous mouth filling and enjoyable easy drinking wines. 2003 is increasingly coming across to me as something like a lesser 1982, and that is no small compliment,
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Not as good as last bottle from 6 months ago, but still a nice wine. Fruit more subdued this time. PnP which may have been a mistake. Purple plum in color. Very nice nose of blackberry, floral elements earth and spice. Palate a little clunky at first but expanded with earth, licorice, spice and a hint of blackberry. Not as smooth or fruity as prior bottle, but no tannin evident. Suggest a decant for several hours.
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A beautiful wine. Nice floral nose with cherry, spice, earth and leather. Medium red in color. Soft and smooth palate of cherry, plum, earth, spice and leather. Nice complexity and balanced w/o a drop of tannin. Has evolved well and very ready to drink.
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Delicious and velvety mouthful. Well-integrated, lush dark berry fruit with a touch of tobacco on the nose. Excellent wine and amazing purity for the vintage.
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Bought on release and properly stored. Color is dark garnet with lightening and just the slightest hint of browning at the outer rim. Nose shows dark fruit, leather, earth, and some good Bordeaux funk. On the palate, dark cherry mixed with plum meet a still present spine of acidity that keeps the wine fresh. Tannins still noticeable but nicely integrated. Finish is medium long and pleasant. Drinking well, should last at least another several years. Nice wine from a hot vintage.
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2nd corked bottle in as many tries. Since I have 4 more left, I decided to check out what happened to this one over time. After 2 hours, the oxidation began to become apparent, and after 10 hours I can't even smell the corked odor due to the heavy oxidation. So BEWARE, if this is any indication, I would not decant it for 24 hours like some other note here said! A note for "theusualsuspect", yes, this was aged in a professionally controlled cellar from the day I go it (not in my garage).
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Decanted for one hour. Deep ruby. Nose features cassis, wet earth, forest, and some spice. Palette, dark fruit, sour cherry, spice and mild tannins. This wine is at the beginning of its drinking window.
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Second Sunday Group: 2011 Bordeaux & others (Mike's): Deep color with aromas of purple fruit, earth, currants and raspberry. Red fruit and plum flavors, with a long finish. Develops a nice floral quality as it opens.
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A reminder that the huge and inescapable variable in wines that have significant age is - yes, storage - actually likely colors many if not all reviews on Cellar Tracker. Bought this wine on release and it has been stored in a refrigerated cellar between 47 and 53 degrees since. Opened last night and it was tight and ungenerous. One day later beautiful finessy red fruit Bordeaux with impressive purity and considerable length. Stored this in your garage for eight years or so, it is dead.
That is the inescapable variable on Cellar Tracker or any other wine review site. How we deal with it may require a little more candor about provenance and storage.
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Blending 69% Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Merlot produced a wine that reached 12.9% alcohol. The wine was aged in 50% new, French oak, which is now completely integrated into the wine. Wet earth, tobacco, forest floor and blackberry fruits play well with the soft, plush, ripe, red and black cherries, ripe tannins and sweet plums. Supple and round, this is drinking perfectly now, yet it can age for at least another decade.
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Beginning to show some signs of age in its color, and starting to take on some secondary aromas. A little thin on the palate, and didn't bring much in the way of complexity or length. Should improve a little more with age, but maybe not great potential.
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It is getting colder, so I decided to open a Bordeaux wine. Spicy black fruit nose, mature, some mint, some Tobacco, a bit of graphite in the back. Taste mature, soft, velvet, black and red fruit, spice, integrated tannins. Drinks excellent now.
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2003 Bordeaux Horizontal (San Antonio, TX): Drinking well right now. A bit richer than the Rauzan Segla at the table, blackberries, violets on solid nose. Creamy black and red fruits, a nutty element, spice.
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Very nice perfumed nose; jasmine, lily, cherry, basil, mint, plum, and summer grass; the palate, rather plain and simple during the first hour, but became more complex with more air time; green herbs, dried flowers, bell peppers, and some mild spices; juicy and light to medium-bodied; the finish, a bit shorter and weaker than expected yet still quite enjoyable; cassises; mild spices, ripe bell peppers, noticeable tannins, and a kiss of dry earth; overall, 90-91 points; wished the palate and the finish could have kept up with the nose; nevertheless, a good floral wine to be drunk alone.
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I think Parker very much has this vintage right. The further south you go in the Medoc the less the wines impress. Margaux was the dividing line more or less. This wine is very cassisy with lead pencil notes, beautifully extracted with considerable length marked however by a dryness bordering on astringency - hard tannins, just maybe. In a nutshell, much more problematic than wines from the 2003 vintage further north in the Medoc. That said, I will have no problem drinking this wine. I add the wine has been impeccably well stored - age or oxidation are not remotely in the picture.
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better colour than the Branaire, but still a lot of bricking at the edges. The bouquet is odd, like drying flowers, some redcurrant but with traces of oxidisation, then some leather and spices, a little reminiscent of a Rioja. In the mouth, the first sensations of fruit don't taste burnt, but as if the wine has been made from dried fruit: all slightly dry and brittle. The second wave is better, with traces of fresher redcurrant and a quite a smooth, silky finish with a definite feel of trademark Issan elegance, but the aftertaste is bitter. Drunk on its own it's not bad, but I would imagine that drunk alongside Issans from more successful vintages such as 98, 00 or 01, its faults would be all too obvious. Again, this tastes surprisingly old, with traits of oxidisation becoming clearer as the wine is aired. It needs finishing.
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Granato cupo, inchiostro. Al naso ribes, caffè, grafite, cuoio, cioccolato fondente. Bocca rotonda e fresca, molto armonica, rispondente. Finale di buona lunghezza su note ferrose.
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Beau nez avec de belles notes de terre et de fleur avec un peu de petits frits rouges. En bouche, c'est velouté et soyeux, beaux tannins soyeux et finale tout en finesse. Beau Margaux!
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Over dinner w/friends. The nose is very nice, showing good maturity; violets, spice, smoke, tobacco. Palate was very refined with soft tannins, nice juicy blackberries, mocha, earth, spice. Bottle was emptied quickly.
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Whoa, this wine completely comes out swinging...this is total nose candy...so sexy...an absolute provocative intoxicating perfume of lushious red fruits and velvety smooth coconut oil. The palate is total margaux-berries...supple, smooth. elegant, soft tannins. An absolute pleasure to drink and another reason why I keep Margaux on the top of the list of favorite communes.
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Decanted and poured. It's supple and gentle. Some earth and cranberries. A real pleasure to drink. Nothing earth shattering or cerebral. This is perfectly ready to drink and its structure doesn't suggest it will improve.
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drank a 6.0 liter bottle of this for our 50th birthday. ready to drink now - soft tannins, good acid balance, mid palate very nice, pleasant smoky but too too dominant nose, typical Bordeaux color and weight, medium finish.
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From an assemblage of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot, the wine reached 12.9% alcohol. Earth, tobacco, smoke, truffle and cassis notes lead to a medium bodied, soft, silky, round, wine that is already offering a lot of pleasure today. The wine finishes with supple textured cherries and spice. 2003 d'Issan is not a vintage for long aging. I'd drink it over the next decade.
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Was not as happy about this bottle as I was about my last one. Still respectable with beautiful nose and decent structure but the aftertaste did not go long this time around, and overall feeling was of underwhelming wine despite all the good points.
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This actually was as I remembered the previous bottle from 3 years ago. It really changes character form hour to hour, at one time I cought it at a stellar moment, but that never really came back. Would every glass have been like that it's 91 points.
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Rich concentrated hallmark Margaux aromas, decent acidity and a good length on this. Ripe black fruits (extraction or the vintage, not sure?), mocha and tannins integrated to the point that it is ready to drink now but should evolve for some (up to 10?) years to come.
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Very competitive and ready to drink. Decanted for 1.5 hours but from the bottle it was already perfumed superbly and deeply, and the first tasting sip from the bottle was a rounded pleasure. Pleasing oily red to lighter rim color. The wine gut marginally better after decanting with more diverse, pleasant but (for me) not easily identifiable: I sensed ripe deep purple plums and some cocoa nuts but there was more complexity and depth in it. The tannins well integrated, acidity at just the right level, and the wine felt very smooth and satisfying with a gentle but very long aftertaste that lingered intermixed with its superb flavors. Why not higher marks? It lacks power and is quite unassuming - aside from excellent bouquet. In any case this is an absolute winner if price and vintage are considered at the same time.
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Opened and decanted for several hours and Wow was this tight. Closed and not letting anyone inside. This is probably my 10th bottle of this and the only one that didn't really open up. An abnormality.
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Superbe nez sur les fleurs et les cerises, c'est tout en finesse, j'aime beaucoup! En bouche, belle texture satinée et belle matière. Des tannins fins et polis avc un beau fruit délicat. Finale longue et soyeuse. Très beau vin et ce dans un millésime inégale, excellent!
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Thoroughly enjoyable....cassis, blackberry, eucalyptus, and roasted (burnt) cocoa bean, with a hint of tobacco leaf. Silky tannins. Elegant and classic....and very drinkable.
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Opened for an hour. A beautiful earthy bordeaux. Not overly complex or multidimensional, but was really enjoyable. Better than prevously tasted 2 years ago.
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Decanted for an hour before having with grilled pork chops. Aroma of green pepper, leather and oak. Taste is definitely not fruit forward, showing some hints of dark fruits, but mostly an earthy, leathery taste. A bit of acidity, but not too much, it just seems a bit bland and doesn't make much of an impression.
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Decanted and drank for the next 2 hours. Attractive perfume. Coffee note and dark fruit just got better and better with air. Medium long finish with a hint of acidity and bitterness reminiscent of olives. Kept wanting more.
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Picked this up somewhere recently, noticed the fill was rather low so popped it. Sleek nose, with mostly toast and mocha, but some dark fruit coming in. Palate with surprisingly darker fruit, with just a hint of cherry coming in on the mid palate. Fine prominent tannins that seem rather soft. Lengthy finish, strong ocha flavor, with cherry and licorice. Very prominent oak, darker fruit profile--just didn't strike me as Margaux-- more like graves in a modern style. Good, needs time for oak to integrate though not loaded in fruit like some '03's. Night 2- this pulled together some showing a little more bright red fruit and more integrated oak.
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Drukket til indre og ytrefillet av rådyr kje. Prøvde med denne og Vieux Telegraph CdP la Crau 06 til maten og jeg synes d'Issan var best. Vinen har nydelig aroma av blyant, lær, litt "søte mørke bær" er litt classic claret over aromaen synes jeg. Etter en time i dekanter var tanninene og syren fremdeles litt stram, men etter to begynner den å mykne opp også i munnen. Bra lengde. Fin modning på denne, men vil nok bare bli bedre de neste fire fem årene. Absolutt en bra vin, årgangen tatt i betraktning.
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95 pts. Had for dinner at La Belle Vie restaurant in Minneapolis, stellar wine decante it for 1.5 hours before dinner at the restaurant which made it so great to take in the earthy, coffee bean aromas with drak chocolate tones with touches of blackberry on the platte, finish was even better as the night went on; great balance of acid with fruit; as we had dinner the wine opened and soften up to melt with the food we were eating making each bite heaven; thank god I have one more bottle to let sit for 5-10 years
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Dark crimson color with a blunt nose at first, but reveals rose petals, cocoa powder and leather after some aeration. It's a very subdued, backward wine that peaks at the onset, and then just then glides forward far and wide - filling the whole palate with an even coating of black cherry, currant, oak and vanilla. Very seductive and silky, ending in a long, refined finish. Drink from 2010 to 2020.
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Like a Bordeaux-style Napa. Dried cherry & blackberry nose. Dark blackberry and eucalyptus on palate w/ some graphite. Medium-Full body. Very soft mouthfeel.
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Closed up. Chocolate coffee notes with high quality fruit in there, but there is plenty of acidic tannic astringency across the palate. A keeper for sure, but needs more years than advertised for the typical 2003 Bordeaux. Try again in maybe 2012.
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At L's p--Full-bodied, with small effect of tannins, dark, earthy, choclatey, smidgen of fruit, thus atypically Margaux; on the short side of outstanding, nevertheless.
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Cassis aroma with hint of earth and barnyard. Cassis on the palate as well with subtle flavors of blood and oak. Medium body with soft, rounded tannins. Developing plum flavor on the medium finish.
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Tried a few 2003s for New Year's with prime rib to see if they are maturing as quickly as some say. Popped and poured. Mistake on both counts. Too soon and should have decanted for several hours. Ok wine.but missing that telltale Margaux nose. Dark purple and earthy with chocolate on the nose. Very little fruit on the palate. Charcoal, earth and coffee on a soft palate. No tannin to speak off. Needs some fruit and oomph. Maybe with time and/or a good lengthy decant.
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Pleasant wine but lacking structure. Opened and drank straight from the bottle which I think was fine. Fruit driven but missing the tannins and acidity.
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Nice wine, decant it for 4 hours, could not miss the smell of coffee and chocholate, medium-bodied with not that strong tannins. It does not show any raisined fruit character.
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Very elegant and "drinkable" wine....surprisingly soft, fleshy and subtly expressive without any harsh edges at all. Quite silky. Delicious and great food wine, but not an "impressive" wine or something that's going to show well in a lineup of "big guns".
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Went with the 2003 d'Issan last night with porterhouse steak. Fragrant, summer flowers, pleasant bouquet, not over-powering certainly. A nice balance, it has a good texture in the mouth. Probably not going to age for two decades, but should provide some nice drinking for the next decade plus. Does not seem to have closed up at all, although I have not had other bottles with which to compare it. The color is a very beautiful Margaux purple, essentially to the rim. At first I was surprised by the lower-than-expected reading of 12.5% alcohol on the back label (although, as I understand it from someone here in the past (Claret?), 12.5% can mean a spectrum exceeding 13% on the high end), but as the dinner progressed, there was no significant sign of heat or volatility. Meaty nuances developed as the wine evolved with dinner. The wine is light on its feet, a pleasure. I don't think I would buy more at the $45-plus price level it seems to be fetching in much of the market, but, at the $31 currently in stock at PJs, I'll buy at least six more, if not a case. It finished strong, evolving beautifully in the end. A lovely, feminine wine, it will rate even higher with another five years under its belt. This wine was consistently pleasurable throughout the whole evening, from beginning to end. Licorice on the nose in the end. Rating: A solid 90+ points, if you want to score it 91 I won't quibble with you.
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Opened right away and served (I would decant for at least 3-4hrs next time). Way too young to be drinking this wine. Fantastic nose of dirt, wet rock and underlying dark fruit and sour cherries that jumps out at you instantly. Drank on New Year’s Eve so no formal notes, but from what I remember there was a decent amount of heat on the mid palate, soft tannins and a short finish. Wouldn’t approach again for at least 5+ years. For this price ($80cdn), not great QPR.
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Wineflock - 2003 Bordeaux, Parker 90+ (Ken's): Group #12, My #10 - Full red color. Full aroma of sweet red candied fruit. round red fruit wit hgood acidity. Lighter bodied and shorter finish than most others.
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flamboyant bouquet when first opened, faded to quite subtle after a while. needed alot of coaxing to bring any of it back. lots of leather and old world style. palate is also not very forthcoming. not bad really but did not live up to expectations. somewhat thin. a photo finish when tasted side by side with an '03 chateau de clairefont margaux, but in the end, lost by a nose to a wine nearly half the price.
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21:45: Black cherries on the nose, with some meat and leather. Nicely balanced palate, and very accessible now: not too sweet black fruits (cherries, berries), supported by refreshing acids and soft tannins. Very tasty, not tiring, makes you want to taste another glass.
The evening after: remains very good, but in a fruity, easing drinking style one doesn't normally associate with Margaux. Gives much more pleasure then the Troplong Mondot 2003 I had the day before.
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2/29/2024 - Araldinho Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium deep garnet with tawny edge.
Aromas of cigarbox, leather, cassis, pencil shaving, cardamom, singed wood and forest floor.
Finely grained chewy tannins. Blackcurrant acids and black tea bitterness.
Medium to full body.
Palate of blackcurrant jam, plum preserve, coffee, Asian spices, stock cube and crushed rock.
A mature yet vital and classical Bordeaux with serious ripe dark fruit, bittersweet acidity and not so complex but long spicy and stony delicate finish.
Tasted alongside Chateau Petit Village 2005 and the present wine had more elegant and supple fruit and classical Bordeaux style.
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6/5/2023 - eudora Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking beautifully. No trace of decline.
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5/7/2023 - Cailles wrote: 92 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: Beautiful, classic Pauillac nose, ripe but not too ripe, quite luxurious dark fruit, some burnt sugar notes, some blue fruit and minerality. Good level complex, very precise. On the palate there is fine blue and dark fruit, minerality, some herbs and cedar notes. Not as complex and even a bit hollow on the mid palate and towards the not overly exciting finish. Fine tannins, well-integrated acidity, quite light. This is a very solid effort and drinks beautifully today.
Decanting: No extensive decanting needed.
Group average: 92.8 pts
Group rank: Shared 4th out of 29 reds
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3/20/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 93 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:
Ripe fruit of black currant and cassis, leather and barnyard, sweet accents - all of which nicely layered. Nice verticality. Fresh palate with dominant acidity and structural tannin, firm but well integrated. Manages pull off a juicy palate with fresh sweet fruit. While less complex than others, this drinks exceptionally well for the vintage.
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7/20/2022 - mike410 wrote: 90 Points
Premature aging. This shouldn't have tasted so old. I suspect the storage wasn't so good.
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11/12/2020 - swapdoc wrote:
A cab-dominant wine palate. Aromas of a tomato leaf, leather, cedar; mostly savory palate with some currant and cherry sweetness in the finish. The maturing fruit highlights the wine's acidity. No need to wait.
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11/2/2020 - europat55 wrote: 92 Points
Nose: A- Palate: B++/A- Tasted blind.
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12/22/2018 - gbeaudry Does not like this wine:
Bad.
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9/19/2018 - dlduchon Likes this wine: 89 Points
A touch heavy handed. Expected for the vintage but entirely drinkable. Cumbersome for a Bordeaux.
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7/27/2018 - cos65 Likes this wine:
Absolutely fabulous right now.
Crystalline ruby colored
Rich, perfectly aged right now.
Enjoy
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9/3/2017 - wino121 wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 2+ plus hours, massive on the nose, in a fairly good spot fruit wise, maybe a bit past peak..it became burdensome without food.
A little disjointed on the finish, out of balance would be a better adjective, other than that all good.
Drink now-2020?
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1/6/2017 - SimonG wrote: 90 Points
Deep ruby. Quite a floral lift to the densely blackcurranty nose. Quite smooth with good blackcurrant fruit and a slight creaminess on the attack. There's a persistent sense of dryness on the finish though — red meat combats this quite nicely though it would get a bit wearing on its own. A decent effort for 03, and only 12.5abv, but the tannins are a little grainy at the end. Lovely nose though. ***1/2
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4/11/2016 - theusualsuspect wrote: 94 Points
This may be the highest score I've ever given here or elsewhere for a Margaux other than Chateau Margaux or Palmer. A juicy modern style Bordeaux on the black fruit side. Wonderfully mouth filling purity. If lacking, it is on the finish. But understand, this wine would be blown away by say an average 2000 Bordeaux given the structure those wines by and large have. While 2003 is ranked as a nothing special vintage by the usual measures, it is a vintage that offers plenty and then some of very generous mouth filling and enjoyable easy drinking wines. 2003 is increasingly coming across to me as something like a lesser 1982, and that is no small compliment,
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2/27/2016 - cos82 wrote: 90 Points
Not as good as last bottle from 6 months ago, but still a nice wine. Fruit more subdued this time. PnP which may have been a mistake. Purple plum in color. Very nice nose of blackberry, floral elements earth and spice. Palate a little clunky at first but expanded with earth, licorice, spice and a hint of blackberry. Not as smooth or fruity as prior bottle, but no tannin evident. Suggest a decant for several hours.
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2/25/2016 - mikerando Likes this wine: 96 Points
fabulous, almost perfect for my taste
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12/18/2015 - eudora Likes this wine: 92 Points
Peak drinking window
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3/28/2015 - cos82 Likes this wine: 93 Points
A beautiful wine. Nice floral nose with cherry, spice, earth and leather. Medium red in color. Soft and smooth palate of cherry, plum, earth, spice and leather. Nice complexity and balanced w/o a drop of tannin. Has evolved well and very ready to drink.
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3/6/2015 - gblacave wrote: 92 Points
Delicious and velvety mouthful. Well-integrated, lush dark berry fruit with a touch of tobacco on the nose. Excellent wine and amazing purity for the vintage.
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2/19/2015 - CelebrateLife! wrote: 90 Points
Good fruit and balance
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2/6/2015 - unrelenting Likes this wine: 94 Points
Peak drinking. Ridiculous value if you like cheap aged Bordeaux
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12/25/2014 - Thilo Likes this wine: 90 Points
Bought on release and properly stored. Color is dark garnet with lightening and just the slightest hint of browning at the outer rim. Nose shows dark fruit, leather, earth, and some good Bordeaux funk. On the palate, dark cherry mixed with plum meet a still present spine of acidity that keeps the wine fresh. Tannins still noticeable but nicely integrated. Finish is medium long and pleasant. Drinking well, should last at least another several years. Nice wine from a hot vintage.
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11/29/2014 - seit1234 wrote: flawed
2nd corked bottle in as many tries. Since I have 4 more left, I decided to check out what happened to this one over time. After 2 hours, the oxidation began to become apparent, and after 10 hours I can't even smell the corked odor due to the heavy oxidation. So BEWARE, if this is any indication, I would not decant it for 24 hours like some other note here said!
A note for "theusualsuspect", yes, this was aged in a professionally controlled cellar from the day I go it (not in my garage).
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10/5/2014 - MarkusBig wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for one hour. Deep ruby. Nose features cassis, wet earth, forest, and some spice. Palette, dark fruit, sour cherry, spice and mild tannins. This wine is at the beginning of its drinking window.
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7/13/2014 - AllRed wrote: 92 Points
Second Sunday Group: 2011 Bordeaux & others (Mike's): Deep color with aromas of purple fruit, earth, currants and raspberry. Red fruit and plum flavors, with a long finish. Develops a nice floral quality as it opens.
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1/5/2014 - theusualsuspect wrote: 91 Points
A reminder that the huge and inescapable variable in wines that have significant age is - yes, storage - actually likely colors many if not all reviews on Cellar Tracker. Bought this wine on release and it has been stored in a refrigerated cellar between 47 and 53 degrees since. Opened last night and it was tight and ungenerous. One day later beautiful finessy red fruit Bordeaux with impressive purity and considerable length. Stored this in your garage for eight years or so, it is dead.
That is the inescapable variable on Cellar Tracker or any other wine review site. How we deal with it may require a little more candor about provenance and storage.
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12/18/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 92 Points
Blending 69% Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Merlot produced a wine that reached 12.9% alcohol. The wine was aged in 50% new, French oak, which is now completely integrated into the wine. Wet earth, tobacco, forest floor and blackberry fruits play well with the soft, plush, ripe, red and black cherries, ripe tannins and sweet plums. Supple and round, this is drinking perfectly now, yet it can age for at least another decade.
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10/21/2013 - djdaqm Likes this wine: 90 Points
Beginning to show some signs of age in its color, and starting to take on some secondary aromas. A little thin on the palate, and didn't bring much in the way of complexity or length. Should improve a little more with age, but maybe not great potential.
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9/24/2013 - Burgaddict wrote: 90 Points
It is getting colder, so I decided to open a Bordeaux wine. Spicy black fruit nose, mature, some mint, some Tobacco, a bit of graphite in the back. Taste mature, soft, velvet, black and red fruit, spice, integrated tannins. Drinks excellent now.
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6/30/2013 - macker100 wrote: 91 Points
2003 Bordeaux Horizontal (San Antonio, TX): Drinking well right now. A bit richer than the Rauzan Segla at the table, blackberries, violets on solid nose. Creamy black and red fruits, a nutty element, spice.
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5/12/2013 - CWang wrote: 91 Points
Very nice perfumed nose; jasmine, lily, cherry, basil, mint, plum, and summer grass; the palate, rather plain and simple during the first hour, but became more complex with more air time; green herbs, dried flowers, bell peppers, and some mild spices; juicy and light to medium-bodied; the finish, a bit shorter and weaker than expected yet still quite enjoyable; cassises; mild spices, ripe bell peppers, noticeable tannins, and a kiss of dry earth; overall, 90-91 points; wished the palate and the finish could have kept up with the nose; nevertheless, a good floral wine to be drunk alone.
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5/4/2013 - theusualsuspect wrote: 89 Points
I think Parker very much has this vintage right. The further south you go in the Medoc the less the wines impress. Margaux was the dividing line more or less. This wine is very cassisy with lead pencil notes, beautifully extracted with considerable length marked however by a dryness bordering on astringency - hard tannins, just maybe. In a nutshell, much more problematic than wines from the 2003 vintage further north in the Medoc. That said, I will have no problem drinking this wine.
I add the wine has been impeccably well stored - age or oxidation are not remotely in the picture.
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3/28/2013 - Julian Marshall Does not like this wine:
better colour than the Branaire, but still a lot of bricking at the edges. The bouquet is odd, like drying flowers, some redcurrant but with traces of oxidisation, then some leather and spices, a little reminiscent of a Rioja.
In the mouth, the first sensations of fruit don't taste burnt, but as if the wine has been made from dried fruit: all slightly dry and brittle. The second wave is better, with traces of fresher redcurrant and a quite a smooth, silky finish with a definite feel of trademark Issan elegance, but the aftertaste is bitter.
Drunk on its own it's not bad, but I would imagine that drunk alongside Issans from more successful vintages such as 98, 00 or 01, its faults would be all too obvious.
Again, this tastes surprisingly old, with traits of oxidisation becoming clearer as the wine is aired. It needs finishing.
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12/24/2012 - Ludi Likes this wine: 91 Points
Granato cupo, inchiostro. Al naso ribes, caffè, grafite, cuoio, cioccolato fondente. Bocca rotonda e fresca, molto armonica, rispondente. Finale di buona lunghezza su note ferrose.
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10/28/2012 - maxima wrote: 91 Points
Beau nez avec de belles notes de terre et de fleur avec un peu de petits frits rouges.
En bouche, c'est velouté et soyeux, beaux tannins soyeux et finale tout en finesse.
Beau Margaux!
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6/17/2012 - macker100 wrote: 91 Points
Over dinner w/friends. The nose is very nice, showing good maturity; violets, spice, smoke, tobacco. Palate was very refined with soft tannins, nice juicy blackberries, mocha, earth, spice. Bottle was emptied quickly.
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6/16/2012 - robertgoulet wrote: 92 Points
Whoa, this wine completely comes out swinging...this is total nose candy...so sexy...an absolute provocative intoxicating perfume of lushious red fruits and velvety smooth coconut oil. The palate is total margaux-berries...supple, smooth. elegant, soft tannins. An absolute pleasure to drink and another reason why I keep Margaux on the top of the list of favorite communes.
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6/6/2012 - plitton wrote: 90 Points
Decanted and poured. It's supple and gentle. Some earth and cranberries. A real pleasure to drink. Nothing earth shattering or cerebral. This is perfectly ready to drink and its structure doesn't suggest it will improve.
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5/19/2012 - Jchernoff wrote: 91 Points
drank a 6.0 liter bottle of this for our 50th birthday. ready to drink now - soft tannins, good acid balance, mid palate very nice, pleasant smoky but too too dominant nose, typical Bordeaux color and weight, medium finish.
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5/2/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
From an assemblage of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot, the wine reached 12.9% alcohol. Earth, tobacco, smoke, truffle and cassis notes lead to a medium bodied, soft, silky, round, wine that is already offering a lot of pleasure today. The wine finishes with supple textured cherries and spice. 2003 d'Issan is not a vintage for long aging. I'd drink it over the next decade.
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3/12/2012 - dmitri wrote: 89 Points
Was not as happy about this bottle as I was about my last one. Still respectable with beautiful nose and decent structure but the aftertaste did not go long this time around, and overall feeling was of underwhelming wine despite all the good points.
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3/1/2012 - J.L wrote: 89 Points
This actually was as I remembered the previous bottle from 3 years ago. It really changes character form hour to hour, at one time I cought it at a stellar moment, but that never really came back. Would every glass have been like that it's 91 points.
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2/6/2012 - JS199 wrote: 90 Points
Similar to previous notes.
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1/18/2012 - Que Aproveche wrote: 89 Points
Rich concentrated hallmark Margaux aromas, decent acidity and a good length on this. Ripe black fruits (extraction or the vintage, not sure?), mocha and tannins integrated to the point that it is ready to drink now but should evolve for some (up to 10?) years to come.
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1/15/2012 - dmitri wrote: 91 Points
Very competitive and ready to drink. Decanted for 1.5 hours but from the bottle it was already perfumed superbly and deeply, and the first tasting sip from the bottle was a rounded pleasure. Pleasing oily red to lighter rim color. The wine gut marginally better after decanting with more diverse, pleasant but (for me) not easily identifiable: I sensed ripe deep purple plums and some cocoa nuts but there was more complexity and depth in it. The tannins well integrated, acidity at just the right level, and the wine felt very smooth and satisfying with a gentle but very long aftertaste that lingered intermixed with its superb flavors. Why not higher marks? It lacks power and is quite unassuming - aside from excellent bouquet. In any case this is an absolute winner if price and vintage are considered at the same time.
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11/27/2011 - JS199 wrote: 90 Points
Opened and decanted for several hours and Wow was this tight. Closed and not letting anyone inside. This is probably my 10th bottle of this and the only one that didn't really open up. An abnormality.
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10/30/2011 - JS199 wrote: 90 Points
Similar to previous note.
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10/28/2011 - maxima wrote: 92 Points
Superbe nez sur les fleurs et les cerises, c'est tout en finesse, j'aime beaucoup!
En bouche, belle texture satinée et belle matière. Des tannins fins et polis avc un beau fruit délicat. Finale longue et soyeuse.
Très beau vin et ce dans un millésime inégale, excellent!
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10/22/2011 - Employee500 wrote: 91 Points
Thoroughly enjoyable....cassis, blackberry, eucalyptus, and roasted (burnt) cocoa bean, with a hint of tobacco leaf. Silky tannins. Elegant and classic....and very drinkable.
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9/7/2011 - JS199 wrote: 91 Points
Opened for an hour. A beautiful earthy bordeaux. Not overly complex or multidimensional, but was really enjoyable. Better than prevously tasted 2 years ago.
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7/29/2011 - Wine Sparty wrote: 87 Points
Decanted for an hour before having with grilled pork chops. Aroma of green pepper, leather and oak. Taste is definitely not fruit forward, showing some hints of dark fruits, but mostly an earthy, leathery taste. A bit of acidity, but not too much, it just seems a bit bland and doesn't make much of an impression.
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5/22/2011 - j30 wrote: 91 Points
Decanted and drank for the next 2 hours. Attractive perfume. Coffee note and dark fruit just got better and better with air. Medium long finish with a hint of acidity and bitterness reminiscent of olives. Kept wanting more.
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5/15/2011 - S. Lorin wrote: 89 Points
Dark fruit and cedar dominate with elements of currants and licorice, tight and slightly drying on the short finish
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4/18/2011 - Nutty08 wrote: 89 Points
Picked this up somewhere recently, noticed the fill was rather low so popped it. Sleek nose, with mostly toast and mocha, but some dark fruit coming in. Palate with surprisingly darker fruit, with just a hint of cherry coming in on the mid palate. Fine prominent tannins that seem rather soft. Lengthy finish, strong ocha flavor, with cherry and licorice. Very prominent oak, darker fruit profile--just didn't strike me as Margaux-- more like graves in a modern style. Good, needs time for oak to integrate though not loaded in fruit like some '03's.
Night 2- this pulled together some showing a little more bright red fruit and more integrated oak.
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12/23/2010 - Bernt Olav wrote: 91 Points
Drukket til indre og ytrefillet av rådyr kje. Prøvde med denne og Vieux Telegraph CdP la Crau 06 til maten og jeg synes d'Issan var best. Vinen har nydelig aroma av blyant, lær, litt "søte mørke bær" er litt classic claret over aromaen synes jeg. Etter en time i dekanter var tanninene og syren fremdeles litt stram, men etter to begynner den å mykne opp også i munnen. Bra lengde. Fin modning på denne, men vil nok bare bli bedre de neste fire fem årene. Absolutt en bra vin, årgangen tatt i betraktning.
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11/18/2010 - mwanasheria wrote: 92 Points
Cassis, plums, dark fruit. Very elegant and less fat than most 03s.
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7/24/2010 - snwcln wrote: 95 Points
95 pts. Had for dinner at La Belle Vie restaurant in Minneapolis, stellar wine decante it for 1.5 hours before dinner at the restaurant which made it so great to take in the earthy, coffee bean aromas with drak chocolate tones with touches of blackberry on the platte, finish was even better as the night went on; great balance of acid with fruit; as we had dinner the wine opened and soften up to melt with the food we were eating making each bite heaven; thank god I have one more bottle to let sit for 5-10 years
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3/15/2010 - Life At Your Leisure 🍷 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark crimson color with a blunt nose at first, but reveals rose petals, cocoa powder and leather after some aeration. It's a very subdued, backward wine that peaks at the onset, and then just then glides forward far and wide - filling the whole palate with an even coating of black cherry, currant, oak and vanilla. Very seductive and silky, ending in a long, refined finish. Drink from 2010 to 2020.
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1/29/2010 - shaftlet wrote: 90 Points
Like a Bordeaux-style Napa. Dried cherry & blackberry nose. Dark blackberry and eucalyptus on palate w/ some graphite. Medium-Full body. Very soft mouthfeel.
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10/28/2009 - theusualsuspect wrote: 87 Points
Closed up. Chocolate coffee notes with high quality fruit in there, but there is plenty of acidic tannic astringency across the palate. A keeper for sure, but needs more years than advertised for the typical 2003 Bordeaux. Try again in maybe 2012.
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9/7/2009 - isdblm@lsu.edu wrote: 91 Points
At L's p--Full-bodied, with small effect of tannins, dark, earthy, choclatey, smidgen of fruit, thus atypically Margaux; on the short side of outstanding, nevertheless.
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6/3/2009 - A. wrote:
Typical dusty leather Bordeaux. A bit astringent on the finish. Hoping to enjoy 2nd bottle more, in a few years.
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5/9/2009 - Brsed wrote: 91 Points
A classic Bordeaux. No over-extraction here. Wonderful nose. Nice balance with black fruit, acidity and minerality. Refined and elegant.
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4/18/2009 - Surfdoc wrote: 88 Points
Cassis aroma with hint of earth and barnyard. Cassis on the palate as well with subtle flavors of blood and oak. Medium body with soft, rounded tannins. Developing plum flavor on the medium finish.
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12/31/2008 - cos82 wrote: 87 Points
Tried a few 2003s for New Year's with prime rib to see if they are maturing as quickly as some say. Popped and poured. Mistake on both counts. Too soon and should have decanted for several hours. Ok wine.but missing that telltale Margaux nose. Dark purple and earthy with chocolate on the nose. Very little fruit on the palate. Charcoal, earth and coffee on a soft palate. No tannin to speak off. Needs some fruit and oomph. Maybe with time and/or a good lengthy decant.
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12/10/2008 - redbat wrote: 90 Points
Pleasant wine but lacking structure. Opened and drank straight from the bottle which I think was fine. Fruit driven but missing the tannins and acidity.
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11/30/2008 - tshahar wrote: 90 Points
Nice wine, decant it for 4 hours, could not miss the smell of coffee and chocholate, medium-bodied with not that strong tannins. It does not show any raisined fruit character.
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10/8/2008 - Yagil wrote: 85 Points
Wine Depot
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5/8/2008 - the drops of god wrote: 90 Points
Had it with the wine maker. Serious nose of currents, red fruit. This was good but not exciting after trying the 05.
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3/27/2008 - Nutty08 wrote: 88 Points
Pebble Beach Food and Wine; 3/27/2008-3/30/2008 (Pebble Beach Resort, CA): Typical Bordeaux nose with mineral pencil and some cassiss. palate is firm and drying. Finish a bit short, but complex. Much too young.
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10/25/2007 - Employee500 wrote: 91 Points
Very elegant and "drinkable" wine....surprisingly soft, fleshy and subtly expressive without any harsh edges at all. Quite silky. Delicious and great food wine, but not an "impressive" wine or something that's going to show well in a lineup of "big guns".
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10/4/2007 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 90 Points
Académie des Cinquante Bordeaux visit; 10/3/2007-10/6/2007: Full, ripe and round, smooth and warm, not very energetic but pleasant, not long-term.
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8/30/2007 - KeithAkers wrote: 87 Points
decanted for ~ 1 1/2 hours. Has a very dark color, almost pitch black in color
Nose: Very dark nose with earth tones, black currant, and blackberry
taste: getting some cedar box and blackberry on the mouth. Has a tobbacco finish that dies off fast
overall: this is a good solid wine. It does what it's supposed to, but doesn't bring that much more to the party. At $40, this is far from a QPR
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5/25/2007 - JimHow wrote: 90 Points
Went with the 2003 d'Issan last night with porterhouse steak. Fragrant, summer flowers, pleasant bouquet, not over-powering certainly. A nice balance, it has a good texture in the mouth. Probably not going to age for two decades, but should provide some nice drinking for the next decade plus. Does not seem to have closed up at all, although I have not had other bottles with which to compare it. The color is a very beautiful Margaux purple, essentially to the rim. At first I was surprised by the lower-than-expected reading of 12.5% alcohol on the back label (although, as I understand it from someone here in the past (Claret?), 12.5% can mean a spectrum exceeding 13% on the high end), but as the dinner progressed, there was no significant sign of heat or volatility. Meaty nuances developed as the wine evolved with dinner. The wine is light on its feet, a pleasure. I don't think I would buy more at the $45-plus price level it seems to be fetching in much of the market, but, at the $31 currently in stock at PJs, I'll buy at least six more, if not a case. It finished strong, evolving beautifully in the end. A lovely, feminine wine, it will rate even higher with another five years under its belt. This wine was consistently pleasurable throughout the whole evening, from beginning to end. Licorice on the nose in the end. Rating: A solid 90+ points, if you want to score it 91 I won't quibble with you.
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5/1/2007 - cab blends wrote:
Earthy and fruity
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12/31/2006 - godx wrote: 90 Points
Opened right away and served (I would decant for at least 3-4hrs next time). Way too young to be drinking this wine. Fantastic nose of dirt, wet rock and underlying dark fruit and sour cherries that jumps out at you instantly. Drank on New Year’s Eve so no formal notes, but from what I remember there was a decent amount of heat on the mid palate, soft tannins and a short finish. Wouldn’t approach again for at least 5+ years. For this price ($80cdn), not great QPR.
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11/9/2006 - winefool wrote: 90 Points
Wineflock - 2003 Bordeaux, Parker 90+ (Ken's): Group #12, My #10 - Full red color. Full aroma of sweet red candied fruit. round red fruit wit hgood acidity. Lighter bodied and shorter finish than most others.
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11/2/2006 - Myownscale wrote: 83 Points
Nose:
a little green pepper
Palate:
fruits, tannic, grows on you, good complexity
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9/29/2006 - cormyr wrote: 89 Points
flamboyant bouquet when first opened, faded to quite subtle after a while. needed alot of coaxing to bring any of it back. lots of leather and old world style. palate is also not very forthcoming. not bad really but did not live up to expectations. somewhat thin. a photo finish when tasted side by side with an '03 chateau de clairefont margaux, but in the end, lost by a nose to a wine nearly half the price.
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12/14/2005 - Jozefs wrote: 92 Points
18:45 CET: Opened the bottle.
21:45: Black cherries on the nose, with some meat and leather. Nicely balanced palate, and very accessible now: not too sweet black fruits (cherries, berries), supported by refreshing acids and soft tannins. Very tasty, not tiring, makes you want to taste another glass.
The evening after: remains very good, but in a fruity, easing drinking style one doesn't normally associate with Margaux. Gives much more pleasure then the Troplong Mondot 2003 I had the day before.
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