2003 Bordeaux Horizontal

I recently hosted a double-blind tasting of the 2003 Bordeaux. Normally, this is a really bad time to try Bordeaux, but I've read so many recent notes on various boards about how atypically delicious many 2003s are showing, I thought a tasting would be fun. Plus, serving it double blind to a good cross-section of palates also seemed like a good idea, as I hoped the usual vintage conditions might make Bordeaux more appealing to some in the group who normally are quite skeptical of claret... Here are my notes (I tasted them single blind; the wines were slow o-ed from around 8AM until 4PM when they were double decanted back into the bottles), with scores based on current drinking only...

• 2003 Château Lascombes 86 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Wine #1 (single blind): Sweet cherry nose with spicy anise and new oak appearing, the bouquet doesn't seem too OTT for a 2003. To taste, it's big, sweet, high alcohol, with some vegetal notes (but not too strong) and drying tannin. Young, but not tight or closed or hard. 86-87 pts. I checked it later, and the nose had become much more garish. LASCOMBES

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• 2003 Château Saint-Pierre 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Wine #2 (single blind): Better bouquet than #1, but very similar. Both have the sweet praline/toffee note that I found on so many 2003s on release (I still don't like it and can't recall it on any other Bordeaux vintage). Some herby notes can also be sniffed. This is good, very ripe, spicy but with that dang praline. Someone guesses Shiraz. Again, wide open for business. 87-88 pts

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• 2003 Château d'Armailhac 80 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Wine #3 (single blind): Very nice bouquet, terribly bitter palate. Way too acrid, and yet it has some telltale praline too. Hard to like. 80-81 pts.

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• 2003 Château Kirwan 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Wine #4 (single blind): Sweet, classy nose with new oak, rose water, cassis and no praline. This comes across immediately as much more restrained and balanced. This is the most closed, especially on the palate. I like it. 91-92 pts

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• 2003 Château Fleur Cardinale 84 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Wine #5 (single blind): Nose very similar to Flight 1. Sweet, heat, praline, not very impressive. The palate was kinda flabby and boring. 84-85 pts

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• 2003 Château Les Grands Maréchaux 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux

  Wine #6 (single blind): Very unusual bouquet, with clear herbs (tarragon), and a crazy love-hate marizpan/amaretto scent. Wild. I found the palate sweet, fleshy, with decent depth and very exotic with Asian spices. Fades with air. Someone said Amarone and I can see the point. Not for everyone, but I thought it was interesting. 89-90 pts.

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• 2003 Château Lanessan 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  Wine #7 (single blind): I guessed Left Bank right away. The nose is tight with earth, black cherry, there's a little whiskey-barrel too. To taste, it has good acidity reminiscent of cranberries. No praline, pretty well balanced, seems promising. Satisfying stuff, could improve. One guess for Oregon Pinot. 88-89 pts

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• 2003 Château du Tertre 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Wine #8 (single blind): This has a pure 2003 nose, with praline, sweet cherries, and a lifted essence. Decent. 85-86 pts

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Overall, I was fairly disappointed with these wines, though in contrast to some other osbervers, I only found two with anything "green" or "vegetal" about them. I just didn't care for the blowsy, praline-infused, diffuse nature of most of these wines. Even my favorite, Kirwan, wasn't all that impressive today, but it probably will improve. This all said, these wines were wide-open, nothing closed, tight, or inscrutable about them like the 1996s and 2000s were/are for so long... The big global-warming question is, will these hot vintage wines settle down, integrate, and above-all improve with more cellar time? My instincts say it will be very hit-and-miss.

Certainly, the best wines I've tried from 2003 are all from the northern Medoc (poorly represented in this tasting) and some of those may blossom into sensational wines with more time (Sociando Mallet, Pontet Canet, Calon Segur, etc). This tasting's line-up was not the cream of the crop, and even wines of this tasting's calibre will may make decent drinking if their more garish qualities settle down. Some like d'Armailhac don't seem to be going anywhere (the slow boat to China scenario). I don't plan to sell my 2003s (as the re-sale market is so poor), so I won't touch these again for another 4-5 years.