This is perhaps the longest and most complex CdP I’ve had. Stunning nose that sprung from the glass even before decanting. Classic grilled beef and herbs that barely started to give away the layers of the palate. So many big reds tend to gravitate toward one corner of the palate kingdom (wild berries, blackberries, cherry). This wine reaches in all directions, pulls in seemingly disparate ideas, and weaves them together gorgeously. From the aforementioned beef and herbs, to classic CdP garrigue, to raspberry, tar, and plum. The finish, longer than a Led Zeppelin box set, gives it all away in waves. And speaking of le(a)d, a graphite streak even adds tang to what could have been too sweet an ending. The grip isn’t choppy, but rather lets the flavors hang on. Still very young, but not infanticide.
Just a beauty, and not even a whisper of heat from the 14 ABV. Tremendous value at a release price of $75.
2003 CDP can be pretty polarizing, but one of the best basic CDP’s I have had from the vintage was the Bois de Boursan. I haven’t had the Felix from 2003, but having had that wine from 2000, 2001 and 2004 I am a HUGE fan of this Cuvee. Nice to hear that the 2003 is great as well.
We recently had their standard '03 as well. BdB seems to make very consistent wines; perhaps largely due to age of their vines. I also liked their standard '03. When it comes to CdP, that’s my preferred speed, though I confess a weakness for the occasional bombastic style as well.
And Eric, '03 polarizing due to burliness and size of the wines from a hot vintage?
I can’t speak for Eric, but my experience is that '03 Rhones are VERY polarizing as well - many don’t like the results of the hot vintage, but I’ve found that good, reliable makers such as Guigal can be quite good, if not terribly ‘classic’. I would guess '07 will be equally polarizing, but more extremely so, with those who love or greatly dislike them, versus the '03 where it is more of greatly dislike versus ‘acceptable’.
I am speaking ‘in code’ (you are a former politico, so you know that of which I speak), as 2003’s have been an Internet whipping boy for a few years on the boards.
The poster child for polarizing 2003 CDP has been Clos des Papes. Some people love it. Quite a few absolutely hate it. Then add in a dose of the Parker factor (since he loves it and some people love to hate what he loves and so on), and there have been countless threads going on an on and on about conspiracy theories, different wines being bottled, wines showing differently, different lot numbers etc. There maybe some of that or some cooked wine, but I think the obvious explanation is the simplest…
Quite a few of the wines from that vintage are polarizing. Ripe, verging on roasted, some raisined, many showing both roasted AND underripe/green/hard tannins all at the same time. I have had some of those. The issue being that the ‘extreme’ heat caused some wines to shut down before they ripened–really more of a factor in Bordeaux than in CDP since frankly it is always pretty hot in the South. For me, I love ripe CDP and have found many 2003 CDP’s to be pleasing. And while you can’t really compare (and I wasn’t a wine drinker to be able to compare), but I love where many 1990 CDP’s have ended up.
I just finished up a 2003 Janasse Chaupin last night. I had opened it a few days earlier, and it was a bit over the top. I left it in the fridge (we went to someone else’s for Thanksgiving and I brought Pinot and Alsacian). So finally I revisited on Friday. One would think that a hyper-ripe, Grenache dominated cuvee would crash after a few days in the fridge. Not the case for this one, it was still screaming and had settled down really, really well. Seriously big, jammy wine though, but with nice underbrushy, Grenachey herbal elements.
Interesting to see what happened with the Janasse Chaupin. I feel compelled to seek out more '03 CdP, but thus far my experience has been that the bawdier-style producers have made some massive wines (raisined is a good term), while the old vines from more, eh, traditional producers like BdB have yielded wines more in line with expectations. BdB is so damn good and so consistent that I could have been convinced that this was not, in fact, an '03. With other producers, I doubt there’d be much discussion.
And Eric, your analysis of the psychology on internet boards is more than a little astute.
There are some parallels with '03 Brunello, some of which comes off as cooked. The champions of botti have produced some surprisingly racy wines in Montalcino given that vintage; I’ve learned from more than one occasion that generalizing doesn’t do much good.
Evan, if you liked that BdB may I strongly recommend you track down an Usseglio Mon Aieul. I like this wine in general, but the 2003 is fracking amazing. Parker nailed it, a totally hedonistic beast. And of course everyone goes on and on about Pegau which is awesome but I think sorely in need of 10 years to settle down a bit.
As to being astute about Parker psychology etc, alas due to my role with CellarTracker, I am a 2-bit player in the ever emerging soap opera. So I have had plenty of time to think about Parker from many angles.
Thanks for the recommendation. I should clarify my CdP preference and my thoughts on BdB…
First, BdB’s standard CdP is quite different than their Cuvee des Felix. The standard is a rather rustic rendering, and that’s the profile I seek out most often. I find the Felix to be the very best kind of concentrated, rich red: one that retains its sense of place beautifully. That’s what I wanted to stress in the TN. I have little interest in massive red wines that I couldn’t pick out of a police lineup the next day. No such problem with the Felix; in fact, it retains plenty of rusticity while amping up the headier aspects.
As I mentioned above, I certainly enjoy a bombastic CdP, I just hesitate to spend much coin on them as I find some to be rather soulless. The Felix is a special wine to me.
The Chaupin is on the bombastic end of the spectrum. However, the 2003 Mon Aieul is just pure Chateauneuf love. Not bombastic, just freaking awesome. It is certainly dialed up a little relative to the Felix but not hugely dissimilar in terms of overall intensity and concentration. Anyway, Mon Aïeul is worth a try (in any vintage) if you run across it.
FWIW, here are my various notes on Felix and Mon Aïeul just to help you calibrate my palate.
Excellent, thanks. Not surprising to see how similar your notes are from year to year with that cuvee, and how similar your notes are to mine. Just a rock-solid, consistent star of a wine.
Just ask Paul about 2003 Clos des Papes … and duck!!!
Seriously though, the Chaupin is EXACTLY the kind of wine I would expect Paul to hate. It is definitely OTT. I think it is a good example for the vintage, but I can totally understand why some would hate it. I haven’t tried any of my 03 Janasse VV yet. I keep meaning to.
I opened an 03 St Jeans Combes des Foudre last week and was very disappointed. The wine offered very little in nose, palate or enjoyment. The 03 Pegau has always rocked for me though.
I haven’t had the '03 Felix, but a recent bottle of the '03 regular Bois de Boursan was a little worrisome. Just a little too huge and unfocused. I bought a few at the Premier Cru discount recently, but I wouldn’t go back for more. This bottle was a Dressner import that I’d purchased a while ago. A local retailer just had a bunch more at $20 but I bought some '03 Fortia Baron instead at the same price. Hoping for more there. We’ll see. For what it’s worth, my one taste of the '03 Clos du Papes left me in the middle. Loved the freshness and purity, didn’t love the HUGE alcohol. Not stewed like the '03 BdB seemed, a little. But just too hot. Hard to say where that wine is going.