TN: Three 2003 Bordeaux with Christian and Remo

D

David from Switzerland

David Plattner
Christian took Remo and me out to a BYO dinner last night thanks again! Guly joined us after dinner, sat there with him until midnight, finishing up all three bottles leisurely.

Chteau Pavie Macquin St. Emilion 2003
Thanks to Remo. Blend of 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, from a yield of 22 hal/ha. Plummy purple-ruby-red, pretty gloss. Another young Pavie-Macquin that is a bit exotic, with that mixture of Lafleur-like red berry jam and a Rhne-like wildness. Great expression of terroir, if more in terms of fruit than minerality, more similar to the 1998 than the 2000 in this regard. Hugely ripe yet sufficiently fresh, balanced, beautifully sweet and smooth, very complex, nicely fat, ever so slightly viscous, touch of marzipan oak of course, quite long on the finish. Absorbs its 13.8% alcohol with ease. Good acidity, polished but still flavourful tannin. Modern-styled again, but not offensively so (at this stage, this may be the only Derenoncourt wine I still like very much occasionally!). Some baked plum and a soft meatiness with airing, more slowly closing down than the Loville Poyferr. We agree this falls in-between the 2000 and the 1998 (still the finest Pavie-Macquin thus far). Rating: 93+/94?

Chteau Loville Poyferr St. Julien 2003
Contribution of mine. Almost opaque purple-ruby colour. Noble tobacco and minerals on the nose, most impressive especially of course for the vintage, but also just per se. Riper and cleaner/purer than the 2000, and easily as full-bodied. Touch of coffee. Great depth and terroir expression, even regardless of vintage. The second-freshest 2003 I know after the Montrose (thus perhaps my second favourite Bordeaux of the vintage but I have not had all the top wines yet). One can tell there was no need to acidify, a low-acid but very tannic wine. Nicely flavourful tannin. Extremely long, as Christian noted. Almost salty minerally core. Highly concentrated, merely faintly spicy-nutty with oak at all. Very complex, with potential for more. More palate-staining, firmer and longer than the Mouton, which itself is a great success. Great cut and structure, especially for a 2003. Tightest and most austere (as Guly as termed it) of the night relatively speaking and yet, not drinking badly at all. My wine of the night (having said that, all three wines were showing so well), but more to the point, this may be the finest, most terroir-expressive (ironically, in the context of the vintage) Loville-Poyferr (yes, my gut instinct suggests it is better than the 1990 and 1982). More lead pencil but also increasingly more closed with airing. Great cellar candidate. Rating: 95+/96(+?)

Chteau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 2003
Thanks to Christian. Blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, from a yield of 28 hl/ha. A bit less primary-syrupy than last time, more civilized, if barely evolved, continues to drink well, an early-harmonious Mouton, but with the structure and balance to age really one of my favourite Moutons in recent years, may have underrated it early on. Plummy-purple hue to the deep ruby-black, red at the rim. Noble oak and tobacco. Touches of nutmeg-tinged chocolate, malt and even more subtle mocha to complex fruit and nuts. Nice depth. Quite long. The 12.9% alcohol is extremely well integrated. A stylish wine, reasonably oaky, and the sweetest, smoothest and roundest of our three 2003s, no wonder it was Christians and Remos wine of the night. Rating: 94+/~95?

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
Thanks for the notes. Seems early to be drinking B'x at this level. Are they early drinking, late closing, or do you simply like young B'x?
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks for the notes. Seems early to be drinking B'x at this level. Are they early drinking, late closing, or do you simply like young B'x?
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Late closing, if one needed justification. The truth, however, is that I normally wouldn't open wines this young, but some of the people I meet up with like them that way (= primary, fruity, youthfully burly), plus they don't really own mature wine since they only started collecting relatively recently, and have soon learnt (the hard way, that is) not to buy at auction. Personally, although I'm curious and like tasting wine I don't know (including, inevitably, young ones), I much prefer drinking mature wine. Apart from the fact that I grew up being taught fine wine "deserves respect", I simply find mature wine easier to stomach (= drink in quantity). Having said that, the wines last night showed surprisingly well (= I expected worse, that is, that they might be too closed to give pleasure). But then, they're all relatively to very modern in style, so no wonder.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
Thanks,you put the matter well: I also like tasting young and prefer drinking near maturity. But I'm still a poor judge of maturity, as it turns out.

I didn't realize Mouton R. had acquired a 'modern' reputation.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
I didn't realize Mouton R. had acquired a 'modern' reputation.
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What can I say, compared to when I first started tasting wine...

(Trying hard to think of any Bordeaux today that does not come across as at least somewhat modern styled - the way I see it today, we're really discussing a stylistic spectrum ranging from moderately to offensively modernistic. Attended a tasting of 2009 barrel samples recently, and came away thinking that Loville Barton was the only wine that - not too remotely - reminded me of what I grew up with as average or "normal" at all! Of course the friend I tasted with found it exceptionally "austere" - if not "dry" - in context. I was dumbstruck thinking we would have thought of it as sweet and ripe back when, well, you know...)

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
The silver lining of 2003 Bdx is that the wines have either a shorter closed period or none at all. The 03 Leoville Barton I posted on the other day was also very much awake, when 2000s, 2001s and 2002s are all still mostly closed.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
The silver lining of 2003 Bdx is that the wines have either a shorter closed period or none at all. The 03 Leoville Barton I posted on the other day was also very much awake, when 2000s, 2001s and 2002s are all still mostly closed.
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Agree on the better 2000s being (totally!) shut down, but 2001, much like 2004 or 1999, is really one of the more gastronomic vintages of the last fifteen years in that the wines are early-harmonious and have been drinkable from the get-go, barely semi-closed at worst. 2002 seems like a more classically austere vintage, that is, so far as such vintages still exist (= not really "austere" in the traditional sense), even so, some wines I've retasted in recent months are almost shockingly evolved (not always had the time to take notes, but Cos D'Estournel springs to mind).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
Well, La Mission. We've found the 01 Grand Puy Lacoste to be good now with a couple-hour decant. Young, but not dumb. Also, 01 Sociando Mallet has been good with food (or with coke - take your choice).
 
I recently put together a Gruaud Larose retrospective with 1975, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1995, 1996, 1997 (magnum), 2001, 2002 (magnum), and 2003.

The 1975 was hanging on and very pleasant.

The 1981 and 1983 showed much better than the 1982. Both much livelier. Delicious.

The 1985 was lovely.

The 1995 was drinking better than the 1996, though both were nice wines.

The 1997 was my wine of the night. Tasty!

The 2001 and 2002 were both delicious. The 2002 really surprised me.

The 2003 was completely closed down.

So maybe not all 2003s are immune?
 
I've been hearing/reading about a number of 02s that are supposed to be drinking well early. This news is contrary to expectations near the time of harvesting.
 
originally posted by Nicolas Mestre:
I recently put together a Gruaud Larose retrospective with 1975, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1995, 1996, 1997 (magnum), 2001, 2002 (magnum), and 2003.

The 1975 was hanging on and very pleasant.

The 1981 and 1983 showed much better than the 1982. Both much livelier. Delicious.

The 1985 was lovely.

The 1995 was drinking better than the 1996, though both were nice wines.

The 1997 was my wine of the night. Tasty!

The 2001 and 2002 were both delicious. The 2002 really surprised me.

The 2003 was completely closed down.

So maybe not all 2003s are immune?
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Was the 1982 from the same source/storage conditions as the 1981 and 1983 (like/prefer the latter, by the way, but am obviously surprised the 1982 would show less well - in pristine condition it's one of the finest Gruauds ever)? I'm surprised the 1975 was merely "hanging on" - from pristine storage, it should be barely mature (now that vintage is the epitome of "austerity" in the classic/traditional sense of the term). I'm glad you like the 1997 - forgive me what sounds like irony, but I mean it: I'm seriously glad there are people who like any 1997s (having said that, the Gruaud is not bad for the vintage at all). As to the 2003, now that is a highly irritating wine stylistically, at least to (former) Gruaud fans like some of my wine buddies and myself.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti
 
See, this is great. The day that Cory's interviewed in the Times about why the young and this sort of crowd of drinkers don't do Bordeaux anymore, there's a big thread on Wine Disorder that's about Bordeaux and nothing but.
 
originally posted by Thor:
See, this is great. The day that Cory's interviewed in the Times about why the young and this sort of crowd of drinkers don't do Bordeaux anymore, there's a big thread on Wine Disorder that's about Bordeaux and nothing but.
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It's only a matter of time. It'll be rebellion. My kids will probably drink nothing but. Only to piss me off or so I can scream "I don't even know how to relate to you!" It's all cyclical.
 
Very few of the Gruauds had traceable provenance. The 1975 wasn't in great condition (cork was soaked through).

The 1982 was from a friend's cellar. He takes very good care of his wines, though I assume this bottle was stored in his restaurant for a couple of years before it moved to his cellar. Even so, the 1981 and 1983 were not pristine either.

The 1982 was good wine, but it seemed a little one dimensional at the time of tasting. Granted, I didn't have much opportunity to see how it developed because it was drunk so quickly by the older generation of wine drinkers more familiar with RP and his 82 vintage adoration.
 
2000 Cos was fine, not my kind of wine. Only other 2000 I had recently was a fragrant but somewhat tricked up tasting Latour a Pomerol. Neither were remotely closed.

Opened a 2000 Drouhin Beaune-Epenotes (did I really buy this?). Good, not great, still hard on the finish. Let it sleep a bit more, but I think I'll only really like it in its obsolescence when it begins tasting like old Bordeaux.
 
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