2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the long run ?

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2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the long r... - 3/17/2021 1:30:50 PM

Eduardo787

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I have no experience whatsoever with vintages like 2003. It was very hot, very alcoholic, and very non- standard for Bordeaux. I have a few wines and was wondering if this kind of vintages are good for long term cellaring or how should I play 2003 ? 2005 we all agree that is for very long cellaring, maybe even 10+ years more as well as 2010, but after reading a lot of comments about 2003 I still don´t know if I should continue to cellar them or start opening a few. I am talking about pomerols and St. Emilions. And....yes, of course I want to have some fruit in the wine and I am not concerned about tertiary or earthy flavors but I am also planning on getting some complexities and not just hedonistic fruit juice. Thoughts ?

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/17/2021 3:12:34 PM

jmcmchi

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I drank up my 2003 St Emilions a long time ago....

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/17/2021 4:14:49 PM

Blue Shorts

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You've likely done this already, but if not.....

Lookup your specific wines and vintages and see what the recent tasting notes look like. You should be able to get a good feel for whether to drink or cellar longer.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/17/2021 6:40:57 PM

sastewart

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There were a lot of ripe/roasted wines in 2003 but I think there are about two dozen excellent wines, mostly from the left bank. Those are drinking well now so I wouldn't wait too long. Within the last year or so we have had great bottles from Leoville Poyferre, Calon Segur, Pontet Canet, Smith Haut Lafitte and the last bottle of a case of Clos Fourtet.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/17/2021 11:50:58 PM

grafstrb

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Eduardo787

I have no experience whatsoever with vintages like 2003. It was very hot, very alcoholic, and very non- standard for Bordeaux. I have a few wines and was wondering if this kind of vintages are good for long term cellaring or how should I play 2003 ? 2005 we all agree that is for very long cellaring, maybe even 10+ years more as well as 2010, but after reading a lot of comments about 2003 I still don´t know if I should continue to cellar them or start opening a few. I am talking about pomerols and St. Emilions. And....yes, of course I want to have some fruit in the wine and I am not concerned about tertiary or earthy flavors but I am also planning on getting some complexities and not just hedonistic fruit juice. Thoughts ?

This is a very wine-specific question.

Which '03's do you have?

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 3:11:00 AM

CranBurgundy

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I tend to like ripe vintages when they age because there's still fruit left and not just leather / tobacco secondary flavors. It's nice to have fruit flavor in your fermented fruit juice, you know?

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 4:45:22 AM

khmark7

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quote:

ORIGINAL: CranBurgundy

I tend to like ripe vintages when they age because there's still fruit left and not just leather / tobacco secondary flavors. It's nice to have fruit flavor in your fermented fruit juice, you know?

Wrong answer. Try again.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 5:06:35 AM

Echinosum

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quote:

ORIGINAL: CranBurgundy

I tend to like ripe vintages when they age because there's still fruit left and not just leather / tobacco secondary flavors. It's nice to have fruit flavor in your fermented fruit juice, you know?

The potential trouble with the very hot vintages is that heat and water-stress can lead to small grapes with thick hard skins, and baked ripe rather than fruity ripe. It does depend if you know how to handle it. A little while ago such weather was not so common in Bordeaux, and many people were not ready to react in the right way, neither in vineyard nor in cellar. Nowadays many properties can take much better advantage of such conditions. Though the number of 15% wines in 2019 does worry me a bit how they are going to turn out. You don't hear about sugar smuggling any more.

A number of notably hot Bordeaux years that didn't, in general, work out too well were 1975, 1983 and 1986. There is the occasional good wine, as some handled it better than others. The good years of that era, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1990 either did not have that long baking heat, or else had sufficient intermittent rain. The other famous hot year of that era, 1976, was different in Bordeaux, as the thunderstorms came in before the harvest, so it ended up being a dilute and large harvest of mostly undistinguished wines for early drinking. Meanwhile, 1976 and 1983 were brilliant years in Alsace and the Loire.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 7:46:50 AM

jeff leve

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It depends on the wine and your taste. The best 2003 BDX all come from Pauillac and St. Estephe. The further south you go, they can be problematic. And then it depends on the wine. The sites with the best terroir, (able to retain water) made much better wine. So that means for long-term aging, you need to look at the higher level of classified growths.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 8:53:07 AM

Ibetian

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I would suggest drinking up right bank wines, with the possible exceptions of the best properties. The only right bank 2003 I have left is the controversial Pavie. On the left bank I’ve got the 3 Leovilles, Calon, Cos and Monroe’s plus 3 top Pauillac.. I’m thinking of hosting a 2003 tasting/dinner in 2023. I’ve enjoyed a lot of 2003 Leoville Barton, and have a case of mags remaining. Drinking great now and time left.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 10:08:51 AM

Eduardo787

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Hossana, Pavie, Pavie Maquin, La Gaffeliere, among a few more. Pavie 2003 last time I had it was definitely not the jam monster it was and I enjoyed it quite a lot, but I have no clue if this vintage in this kind of style of wine has many years left or if it better to consume it now.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/18/2021 5:08:46 PM

Jenise

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Drink 'em. I've had a few surprisingly good '03's from friends (it was a hot vintage virtually everywhere), but I sat out the vintage and have been a lot more relieved than sorry. Better to drink a good wine too young (and none would really be too young at this point) than too old. Hedge your bets.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/19/2021 8:14:45 AM

slaughterer

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Most of the GCs I bought in the 2003 vintage were from Saint Julian and further north. There were instances of stewed fruit and alcohol imbalance, but some stand-out bottles. In Germany we recently had a very hot 2018 vintage, with incredible yields, but uneven quality, and many different types of flaws. European wines from heatwave growing seasons require a very selective approach.

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RE: 2003 Bdx : how does a hot vintage behaves on the lo... - 3/19/2021 8:26:22 AM

KPB

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My experience with 2003 is more from the Rhone, where the heat and dry conditions are actually not so uncommon, so this was a tough summer but not insane. But I have had a few Bdx too.

I find that 2003 gave wines that are very sweet yet sometimes have noticeable vegetable aromas too, as if there was a mix of very ripe (almost overripe) material with underipe seeds or skins or perhaps the woody parts of the clusters. Probably this happens when the vine "shuts down" -- the fruit kind of gets stuck due to the excessive heat and a lack of water and can't ripen in an even way. People tell me that you also see leaves wilting at that same point. Vines that have really deep roots are less impacted than younger vines that haven't yet found really deep water resources.

As these age, I don't find that the vegetal character goes away (if anything, maybe you notice it more). The effect is like stewed fruit with mint.

But other wines were better -- my father in law in Switzerland likes the top growths like Haut Brion and Latour/Lafite, plus less expensive but excellent wines like Pontet Canet and La Lagune and Talbot -- so I've had chances to try a few more successful wines. They seemed quite capable of long aging. I would say that there was a Napa character in the ones he has opened -- and I find that Napa wines are best at age 12-18, but not always beyond 20. So if I was offered a wine list, 2003 Bdx might not be my first choice by now, but I bet that if I was offered a glass of one of those, it would turn out to be fine.

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