Some 2003 (yes 2003) Chateauneuf du Pape

I bought sparingly in 2003 based on concerns for the vintage- but I did buy some- at the time I think part out of FOMO if the Bob was right, and in part wanting to keep verticals or some silly thing like that. Some of the Seattle crowd did a couple of fun tastings at Le Pichet to taste them young, but honestly I had made most of my purchases prior.

Over the past few weeks I went through the four that I ended up buying.

Les Cailloux- At the time a favorite of mine for value and under the radar stardom- Some of the 89 and 90’s I tasted were right up there or better than the bigger names. Tasted young I was disappointed as it was definitely on the raisin and overripe side.
The recent bottle I had was horrendous. Massive sediment drop out, bitter, VA, undrinkable. Either way over the hill and gone, or perhaps exposed to heat in bottle before I received. My other bottle looks the same.

Clos des Papes. Yep. Clearly a FOMO buy. Had to see if it would live up to the bob’s accolades. Remember it being OK young, drinkable but very ripe. Not badly raisin though. Recent bottle was actually similar. Not super advanced, but very sweet tasting. Identifiable as CDP, but certainly not a high 90’s wine, and the lack of structure makes me think there is nothing interesting in the future of this wine.

Pegau. I liked Pegau OK back on release- Again, very ripe, but don’t recall cloying. Somewhat similar to the Clos des Papes- this has aged, but not really evolved. Better than the clos, les cloy, but still not a wine I expect to butterfly into anything. Just primary fruit with no where much to go.

Beaucastel- My favorite of the on release tastings and remains that way. The most restrained and balanced in my mind. Even a bit of secondary evolution. A shadow of other Beaucastel vintages, but interesting enough to hope there is something more to come.



Net, after 16 years, I think it is pretty clear who was right on this vintage. .

Taking one for the team, Scott! Thanks for your notes. I agree with you that the Beaucastel is a decent drink but not one for the ages.
I was tempted by RP enthusiasm to buy a case of the 2003 Mon Aieul. OK, we all make our mistakes… FOMO is a powerful draw. The Mon Aieul 03 is a pretty good bottle. It’s certainly not worth the 100pts that he awarded at a Hedonist’s gathering, but IMHO it’s better than many other heralded names from that flawed vintage.
Now the 2004s, on the other hand … thread drift … unsung but delicious. Pegau particularly good, Clos des Papes beautiful too. Sigh! the wisdom of hindsight.

I had a taste of the 03 Beaucastel last weekend. Lots of funk and brett and not a lot of fruit. It wasn’t my bottle so who knows about storage and it seemed like this one may have been compromised.

I drank most of my '03’s when they were young and only have one bottle left in my cellar. The best one I had was the 2003 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin which I thought was really nice. Others of note include the 2003 Château Fortia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée du Baron and the 2003 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Combe des Fous. The others I had were mediocre at best.

FOMO with CdP?

Every time I try a 2003 Rhone I get the impression it was a worse vintage than 2002, at least for reds. Yet to have the Chave Hermitage though!

I’ll be the one to ask — what is FOMO?

Fear of missing out.

you sir are a very wise man


I still have two bottles of Donjon left and am scared to open them given the past few bottles have been stewed and not all too enjoyable

Makes me want to try one because according to CT, most people like them.

You missed out on the explanatory communication, titled “FOMO MEMO”.

commercial post: I import Pegau to most of the U.S.

I like the 2003 better than Scott does. IMO, it is still a little primary (from memory from a bottle early this year), but should improve for 5 years.

Dan Kravitz

I have 1 bottle of 2003 Pegau left. Definitely a great wine for me when on, but my last bottle was less than great. Clos des Papes was a massive failure based on 5 or 6 bottles I have had, Levine had one great one, so not sure what happened there.

I’ve always had good luck with Pegau, but haven’t tried one for maybe 5 years for some reason. I think I’m afraid to break the streak of good showings. But there is probably little reason to hold too much longer.

Popped a 03 Guigal Hermitage fairly recently expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised at the nice wine it was.

I just had the 2003 Beaucastel once and I didn’t like it at all. To me it tasted like they acidified a raisiny wine. I bought a few cheap Chateauneufs from Premier Cru and they’ve been so-so.

From N. Rhône, I drank one bottle of Chave St Joseph that I liked quite a bit, but a second bottle didn’t impress me - sort of flabby. I didn’t like the Juge, and the one time I had the Chave Hermitage, I thought it was vile, though SQN lovers may enjoy it.

I don’t think I’ll ever seek out another 03 Rhône.

FWIW, my luck with 2007 has been much better.

North was far better than South IMO, less landmines.

Yeah, I also avoid 2003 Rhones (although I bought a few at the time), 2007 is ripe but without the roasted quality I don’t like in most 2003s.

-Al

I know it’s slight apples and oranges, but the 04 is Clos des Papes is just sexy. I haven’t had the 03 as much as you have, but my impression has generally been the same over the past 5-8 years

Agreed, I did like 04 Clos des Papes, 05 not so much again. Book end disappoinments.