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Bordeaux 2003: Tasting, June 2011

Although I would not normally broach a maturing vintage until ten years of age, and probably not find true pleasure until the wines hit their 12th or perhaps even 15th birthdays, the unique nature of the 2003 vintage has prompted me to take a limited early look at some of the wines in the cellar. The heatwave vintage (for a more detailed assessment, see my Bordeaux 2003 vintage review) gave wines that were big and bold, and many questioned how well such wines, with their flamboyant flavours and occasionally substantial tannic build, would cope in the cellar. Would their tannic backbones propel them into competent old age, or would they simply fall apart within a decade? And, with that in mind, would they drink well earlier than usual? Should we be cracking open these bottles now, at just eight years of age?

If this all seems rather familiar, it may be that you have read my other earlier-than-usual Bordeaux assessment, concerning the 2002 vintage. There, as is also the case in 2003, I noted that several critics have been calling upon buyers of Bordeaux to pull these bottles from their cellars. And once again, in 2003, Jancis Robinson is one of the more vocal proponents of cork-pulling on this vintage, with her review of the vintage following a Farr Vintners tasting, published in October 2010, provocatively titled "2003 Bordeaux - drink up!".

Let's pull a few bottles from the cellar then. But first, I can look back to other bottles from this vintage tasted over the last year or two, bottles that have - for some communes - reinforced the opinion that it was correct to be opening these bottles, and - for other communes - absolutely refuted any such belief. Surprise, surprise, in this most unusual of vintages some communes, especially those with gravelly and sandy terroirs, have coped with the heat less well, whereas others, those with cooler and more moisture-retentive soils, have faired better. There are two sides to the 2003 vintage, which has given us some early-maturing wines, and also some prodigious, structured, rich wines worthy of long cellaring. As a consequence there is, in my opinion, no single soundbite that can be applied to this vintage - other than it is suffering from a case of Multiple Personality Disorder.

Gravel versus Clay

The most striking wine from 2003 I have tasted in the last year or two was undoubtedly the Smith-Haut-Lafitte, poured at the 2010 Ban de Millésimes dinner in Bordeaux, which I attended when in the region tasting the 2009 primeurs. It was a remarkable wine, sourced direct from the château and thus of excellent provenance, which simply screamed maturity. Aromatically it was very fine, open, expressive, displaying both maturity and sweetness on the nose, a combination of the classic Graves tobacco that comes with appropriate bottle age, together with that leathery, decaying-fruit sweetness that may well have also reflected maturity, but may also have been the dying resonance of very ripe fruit. But more importantly, on the palate, this was an overtly mature wine, the palate full and meaty and spicy, but in a very broad, rather showy manner, the overall feel of the wine soft and ready rather than tannic or structured. It seemed, to my palate at that time, to be ready to go. If I owned any such bottles I would certainly have rushed home and started pulling them from the cellar there and then.

Inappropriate extrapolation of this single piece of data would then have us running to open every bottle of 2003 Bordeaux, but I am certain this would not be appropriate. Fast forward to September 2010 to find two wines which provide a firm contrast to the soft, supple and willing nature of the Smith-Haut-Lafitte, from Clos Fourtet and Bellevue, both St Emilion estates. Neither of these wines was soft, willing or ready! Both demonstrated admirable tannic backbones, giving the wines plenty of grip, and both would clearly not only be able to cope with more time in the cellar, but in fact clearly demanded it. At that point I began to wonder if the more moisture-retentive clay found not only in the northern left bank communes, particularly St Estèphe but also the Médoc, had been even more of a life-saver in this vintage than had perhaps been realised at the time. And, conversely, I wondered whether the well-drained gravelly terroirs of the Haut-Médoc communes, such as Margaux, and the classically gravelly Pessac-Léognan, the latter especially so, might be where the weak points lay.

It's no good wondering and extrapolating from a mere handful of wines though. I pulled a number of wines, mainly red but I was also keen to take a look at a few examples of Sauternes, to see what they were doing, and whether I agreed with the cry to "drink up".

The Red Wines

Looking to find a softly mature wine perhaps resembling the 2003 Smith-Haut-Lafitte I included the 2003 Domaine de Chevalier in the line up, and was surprised to find it securely dark and spicy. Yes it had a supple and fleshy character very true to the vintage, as well as a roasted-fruit note which rather reminded me of how the 1990 vintage used to taste (and maybe still does - I don't have any in the cellar to discover for myself!) but it also had a firm backbone of tannin. Overall it was charming wine which, while perhaps rather easy-going on the palate and less austere than I might expect at eight years of age, it certainly had nothing that demanded this wine be drunk up. It didn't completely scotch my notion that well-drained terroirs will be the weaker communes in this vintage, but it didn't entirely refute it either.

Moving up the Haut-Médoc communes, I included Ferrière on the insistence of a friend, admittedly a friend more familiar with Gigondas and Châteauneuf du Pape than with Bordeaux, who had assured me it was drinking deliciously. Again the roasted fruit character reminded me of 1990, and on the palate it was rich and toasty, and again the billowing flesh of the vintage concealed beneath its folds the tannin and acidity which told me that, although this wine was more approachable than many, it would perhaps benefit from more time. And travelling north to St Julien and then Pauillac, I found something very similar with the rather more focused but nevertheless youthful Léoville-Barton and the rather straightforward Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Reaching St Estèphe, I discovered Lafon-Rochet not only to be rather immature but firmly closed down and inaccessible, a sure sign that this wine needs to be left well alone, although to be fair the Meyney tasted alongside showed a more soft and supple character, as it always has done, along with a roasted coffee bean flavour reminiscent of the roasted fruit I found in the more southerly communes. An approachable wine, but there is no rush to drink here.

These wines were not tasted over one evening, but were in fact lined up over several evenings. Finding many them to be youthful and even closed, I didn't progress on with other bottles I had originally lined up for this tasting, especially those where I only have one or two bottles for the sole purpose of tastings such as these. Having thought this might be their 'last chance saloon', instead it turned out that many of these wines haven't even left riding school yet. Back into the cellar went bottles of Ormes de Pez, La Lagune, Léoville-Poyferré and Potensac. They will have their chance to shine when they have a little more maturity I think. In addition I should point out that the 2003 Bellevue, pictured above in the shadow of the Clos Fourtet, was prematurely oxidised, and so doesn't appear in my notes below. I haven't had much luck with this wine; of the three bottles I have opened so far, one has been good, one corked, and this oxidised bottle was the third. I have refrained from opening a fourth at the moment.

The Sweet Whites

Having concluded that the reds, largely giving little current pleasure, were clearly in need of more time - for my palate, of course - I also concluded that nothing could be further from the truth for the Sauternes. Whereas my 2001 Sauternes tasting last year showed the wines to be going through a rather awkward phase, the 2003s are ready to go. And they are absolutely delicious with it too. La Tour Blanche seemed a little acid-deficient, but still worthy of a high score such was the joy I found in its other components, although it was eclipsed by Climens, which showed a wonderful peach, mint and tangerine botrytis-infused character. There was something of a question mark over Rieussec, which had a rather unusual edge of volatility to it, although I have seen this characteristic come and go in Sauternes before now, such as in the 2001 Suduiraut. Overshadowing them all though was Coutet, a seductive blend of cinnamon, pastry, beeswax and overt botrytis character.

Diagnosis: Vintage Multiple Personality Disorder

Returning to the reds, I would agree that these wines are more approachable now than I would expect eight-year old Bordeaux to be, but I think this reflects the sweetness of the fruit and the fleshy textures, hiding the tannins, rather than any issue of maturity. I would concur with anyone who stated that certain communes such as Pessac-Léognan and Margaux need to be watched more carefully. This is the vintage's first personality; early maturing, soft and supple wines, from warmer and drier terroirs. I suspect the Domaine de Chevalier and Ferrière tasted here will show overt maturity long before the other wines, catching up with Smith-Haut-Lafitte; they certainly both show a different, more disparate character compared to the other wines here. Extrapolating, if I may, I would expect wines from the lesser sandy terroirs of the right bank to be in the same boat.

I would not agree, however, with anyone who suggested that this vintage is about to fall off its perch. From cooler terroirs, the wines of the more northern Haut-Médoc communes, and the clays of Médoc and St Emilion, are still endowed with huge potential. This is the vintage's second personality; from these more favourable (in this vintage at least) terroirs come wines with more harmonious structure and composition which at present require more time in bottle for complete integration. For these wines, the clarion call of "drink up!" should be replaced with "keep cellaring!". It is perhaps not quite as catchy, but it gets the message across.

So, summing up, I will be leaving my red wines from 2003 alone for now, as I don't agree with those critics calling on all and sundry to drink up. As for the Sauternes though, I would happily tuck in now, as they are just delicious. I will probably revisit these sweet nectars in 2013 when they hit ten years of age, but the reds I suspect I will leave a little longer than that. (7/6/11)

Bordeaux 2003: Tasting Notes

Tasted in June 2011. Click to locate stockists.