With the exception of Angelus, I haven’t really enjoyed most of the 2003 Bordeauxs I have tasted. It is just my palate I think.
I recently opened a 2003 Branaire Ducru. So much raisin in that one. Almost flat in the mouth. Plenty of texture and volume but the flavors were overripe.
Just wanting to see what 03’s might show some freshness and less prune notes. I did have a bottle of Lynch Bages which I liked but I would take 2001 in a heartbeat over that one. 2001 Lynch is fabulous.
Leoville Poyferre, Pichon Baron, Cos d’Estournel and Montrose have all been flat out amazing in the last year. Not like you described with the Branaire Ducru.
In January, when I hosted a '03 Bordeaux blind tasting the Château Giscours and Château Léoville Poyferré were awesome. The Cos and both Pichons were not so good.
A recent Leoville Poyferre was also awesome in my opinion. A Pontet Canet was also good but not quite where the LP was. Montrose remains killer as well.
The Duhart Milon is fabulous. That is the reason I was even interested in looking at this some more. This is the kind of wine that I would love to find.
I’ll second the 03 Pichon Baron. Have had 3 bottles this year with consistent experiences. There are some nice secondary notes already. Good chance I’m opening bottle #4 with dinner tonight.
I don’t see how any fan of BDX, whether a preference for New World or classically styled, could not appreciate the 03 Clos Fourtet. It has all the best characteristics one looks for in BDX while having weight but not at all over the top or heavy. The wine is simply a no brainer.
While I disagree with your first point, I definitely agree with your second.
Really, really like the '03 Poyferre, and at half the price or less, Ch. St. Pierre. The former far more structure, the latter showing a bit modern, but both equally nice.
For my tastes, most of these wines showed poorly (though few of the big guns were opened). Of the notable wines, I didn’t really care for the 03 St. Pierre and Lascombes (though neither were really that bad, just not my style at all), but I did find the 03 Kirwan lovely and promising.
Bottomline: I think 2003 is totally hit or miss, even in specific communes like St. Julien. Some greats were made, but lots of chateau dropped the ball (again, for my preferred style of Bordeaux).
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