I had this wine from my cellar, as well as at a tasting in Zurich in February of 2015. It is one of the handful of 2003s I bought from the Right Bank of Bordeaux in this vintage. Angelus really nailed the vintage, and has produced... Read More
Good medium red. Sexy red berries, smoked meat, coffee, underbrush, truffle and spicy oak on the nose. Very ripe but initially tight, with good spine and a high pitch to its sappy red berry flavors. Slightly roasted for this cuvee... Read More
Red-ruby. Aromas of blackberry liqueur. Sweet, warm and simple, with rather rustic flavors of currant jam and leather. "The most Australian cuvee," notes Clape. A mix of 30-year-old hillside vines and old vines from the foot of... Read More
The 2003 Ausone is off the charts in terms of richness. While I gave a 3-digit score to the 2000, I think this profoundly concentrated wine may be even more sublime and exotic. Its inky/blue/purple color is followed by an extraordinary... Read More
The 2003 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape turned out as well as I could have hoped and is certainly an outstanding wine, deep ruby/purple with a tight but promising nose of black fruits, loamy, earthy notes intermixed with pepper,... Read More
Unfortunately, the 2003 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage À Jacques Perrin was subtly corked. You could still see its potential (and I recommended the table drink it quickly before the TCA became even more apparent), but this is the... Read More
Even in a vintage such as 2003 there are wines that are youthful, unevolved and still in need of bottle age. The 2003 Bellevue Mondotte is one of those wines. From a tiny (5 acres) estate owned by Gerard Perse, this blend of 90%... Read More
The 2003 St. Eden comes from an 11-acre rocky knoll on the northern side of the Oakville Crossroad that consists of pure red soils. It is the most evolved and forward of these 2003 Bond wines. Lots of cedar, chocolate, roasted... Read More
This beautiful 2003 exhibits a dense ruby/purple color, a vigorous youthfulness, and plenty of mulberry, black currant and cherry fruit intermixed with notions of cedarwood, baking spices and roasted herbs. Ripe, medium to full-bodied,... Read More
This beautiful 2003 exhibits a dense ruby/purple color, a vigorous youthfulness, and plenty of mulberry, black currant and cherry fruit intermixed with notions of cedarwood, baking spices and roasted herbs. Ripe, medium to full-bodied,... Read More
A blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc cropped at a low 28 hectoliters per hectare, this chunky, narrowly constructed St.-Emilion reveals elevated tannins, fig pudding-like fruit, medium body and an awkward finish. Drink... Read More
Current vintages of the luxury cuvee, the Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection, are bottled much earlier than in the past and they remain one of Napa's most classic Cabernets. The 2003's opaque purple color suggests a... Read More
This was the finest performance by this wine that I have seen since it was released. I did not expect the 2003 Chateau Margaux to show this well in a vintage where the southern part of the Medoc was clearly less impressive than... Read More
This was the finest performance by this wine that I have seen since it was released. I did not expect the 2003 Chateau Margaux to show this well in a vintage where the southern part of the Medoc was clearly less impressive than... Read More
This was the finest performance by this wine that I have seen since it was released. I did not expect the 2003 Chateau Margaux to show this well in a vintage where the southern part of the Medoc was clearly less impressive than... Read More
The dense ruby/purple-colored 2003 is surprisingly fresh and crisp, displaying no signs of the vintage's extreme heat. This full-bodied, powerful, rich, backward, dense, tannic effort reveals notes of Chinese black tea, creme... Read More
Ex-chateau bottle tasted blind in Sauternes. The Climens '03 has always been a capricious Barsac: brilliant out of barrel but found wanting under vertical conditions. Here, amidst a blind horizontal, it fell somewhere between... Read More
The 2003 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape (the # 2 wine in the Wine Spectator's annual winefest) has long been one of the most profound wines of the vintage. It somehow manages to offer the vintage's character in power,... Read More
My favorite wine of this quartet is the 2003 Cariad, a proprietary blend (50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc) that comes from David Abreu-owned vineyards, primarily the Madrona Ranch in St.... Read More
The dense ruby/purple-tinged, elegant 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard (230 cases) reveals sweet notes of roasted herbs, white chocolate, and black currants, medium to full body, supple tannin, and a stunning, 40- to... Read More
Boasting a nose of great ripeness and freshness, the 2003 Bonnes Mares offers aromas of waxy black fruits and spices. Medium to full-bodied, it resembles liquid silk in both its attack and mid-palate. Luxurious and sensual, this... Read More
Two terrific efforts from this vintage, the 2003 Cos d'Estournel (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc) remains one of the superstars of the vintage. It offers an opaque ruby/purple... Read More