Posted from CellarTracker
Wonderful! 03 is our wedding year, so I’ve been trying to find options that are drinkable from a much maligned vintage, as you said. Tonight we had a 03 Cheval Blanc and it was delightful. Felt the same way, dark fruit and ready to roll. Will definitely seek out more,
03 Pontet Canet is a consistent winner from that vintage. It’s been delicious all along its journey, including now.
Try 03 Pichons — both Lalande and Baron. Very good.
Totally agree.
Absolutely. Have one left in the cellar from a 3 pack I picked up last year and have another full case on the way! Hard to beat at $110 with 18 years of age.
Léoville Barton is terrific. Decant the wine and serve it to your Bordeaux-drinking friends. It will not be called out as a 2003. Quite classic - showing some signs of maturity with plenty of fine drinking ahead.
Another 03 Margaux - Kirwan - was also unusually good that year.
I finished my last bottle a few years ago, but Lagrange for some reason handled the heat very well that year.
For my taste, most of the 2003 caricatures are from the right bank, or on the left bank already caricatures in prior vintages due to winemaking changes.
+1 on the Pontet Canet, Leoville Barton and both Pichons. We have had multiple bottles of each and all have been excellent.
2003 Leoville Poyferre tonight with Prime Rib. 2 hour decant, probably needed 4, but drinking really well by the end of the bottle. Not overdone or overripe for my tastes at all.
Thanks - my son is '03 and although I did buy him a few truly great wines I’ve wanted to backfill some things like this.
What do you consider truly great from 03?
Latour and DRC, at least in theory - didn’t buy enough to sample.
One I would stay away from is Leoville Las Cases. I have had it a few times and never liked it at all.
A very nice buy at $110, looks like it’s $150-170 now!
+1 on the Poyferre. I have been drinking this for almost 10 years for now and it is always great.
In my experience (which is only half a dozen bottles) Léoville-Poyferré 03 can be good or bad, depending on the bottle. I had an excellent one in 2018, a poor one in 2020 and a fairly good one on 23/12. The most recent started badly, with a very typical (in general) 03 nose, full of raisins and pinched spices, before settling down in the decanter to provide a surprisingly cool, almost fresh, Pauillac-style claret, without the normal L-P characteristics, which was great, the only problem being the rather tight middle section which stuck to the back of the throat and a shortish finish. I’m hopeful that the remaining bottles will improve with further cellaring because the fruit is still quite primary.