2003 Les Forts de Latour
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: Ripe dark fruited nose. Some herbal notes. Medium expressive but inviting. On the palate ripe dark red fruit, some caramel, roasted notes, a nice herbal component too as well as a bit of minerality. Overall with a good balance. Not the softest tannins but still with good quality, quite fresh and with medium length. Pleasant, although not too complex. When revealed, I was positively surprised – although the bigger Latour is known to be one of the wines of the vintages. Well deserved 93+pts.
Decanting: A short decant should be enough. This was good from the go.
Group average: 92.3 pts
Group rank: Shared 8th out of 29 reds
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (2,236 views)
