2003 Château L'Eglise-Clinet
Community Tasting Note
Cailles wrote:
Sunday, May 7, 2023 - Bordeaux 2003 – 20 Years On – 33 Reds: All wines tasted blind, not decanted (some wines would have needed it). Observations: 1) 2003 is not a good vintage. The wines don’t have the depth and elegance of good years. But I was positively surprised, that while it’s clearly a hot year, there are less overripe, over-extracted and prematurely dying wines than in 09/10. Still, there is no comparison to how Chateauxs handle hot years today. 2) Compared to five other vintage retrospectives, the 2003 came in last place (lower average score than 2011), with just Chateau Margaux reaching a group score above 95pts. 3) Margaux wines showed best, with the typical immediate charm, while St. Estephe and Pauillac have potential but will need more time (and/or would have needed more air). 4) Right bank wines did not show as good with some alcohol showing and a few wines being on a downhill path. I would not chase 2003 right banks.
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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