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Bordeaux 2003: Sauternes & Barsac

Bordeaux 2003

Sauternes & Barsac

The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2003 tasting terminated with an assessment of Sauternes and Barsac, with an impressive thirteen chateaux showing their wares. There were notable absences, of course; one could hardly expect anyone from Yquem to turn up, but it would have been satisfying to see Rieussec and Coutet man the stand along with some of the other similar exalted stall-holders. Nevertheless, here was a handsome display of mostly yellow-golden wines (with only Sigalas-Rabaud showing a deeper, more orange-tinged hue). And on assessment, I'm pleased to report that on the whole the wines fulfilled the promise suggested by their appearances on both the nose and palate. This is another in a run of strong vintages for Sauternes which includes 1997 and 2001 and, in the opinion of Christian Seely at least, 1999 as well.

My favourites should be pretty easy to pick out from my notes and scores, but specific mention for Suduiraut, which had the strongest showing of all the Sauternes and of the whole 2003 tasting on the day. Credit to Christian Seely and the AXA team. Other top performers were Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Climens and Nairac, the latter coming as a little surprise as I have little prior tasting knowledge of this property. (28/10/05)

Sauternes & Barsac 2003: Tasting Notes

The following wines were tasted at the annual Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting in London in October 2005. Click to locate stockists:

Chateau Bastor-Lamontagne 2003: A fresh, blood-orange nose. A clean, fresh, lighter wine, but with some decent botrytis character. Quite floral, still showing some oak. Crisp style, as refreshing and pure as morning dew. Good, but doesn't have the weight or impact one might look for in this vintage, but in my experience this is the Bastor-Lamontagne style. 16/20

Chateau Broustet 2003: Quite an oak-dominated nose here. The same is true on the palate, which although big, sweet and opulent is still swamped with oak. Lacks overt character and freshness. 14.5/20

Chateau Climens 2003: A lovely nose, of mint-scented botrytis character. A huge palate, showing massive opulence, but balanced out by good acidity. Plump, with delightful fresh white fruits, wrapped in some residual oak and botrytis-quince flavour. That minty character is there too. This has a beautiful presence on the palate, terminating in a clean and fresh finish. A success! 18.5/20

Chateau de Fargues 2003: A more restrained style on the nose here, but showing an appealing barley sugar aroma and some persistent oak. Full, meaty style on the palate, showing plenty of honeyed oak, but with plenty of character to compensate; orange peel and blossom flavours, a little grippy structure, and good acidity. This is very good indeed. 17.5+/20

Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau 2003: Lovely botrytis character here, with herb-tinged honey-quince aromas. A big, refreshing style on the palate, carrying plenty of weight with a full, barley-sugar richness, but with quite sufficient acidity. Still has a little oak to shed. But should make fine drinking. Very good. 17.5/20

Chateau Doisy-Daëne 2003: A very aromatic, musky style on the nose. Firm, still showing a little new oak on the palate, and hiding behind that are some nice white fruits. Well structured, with an appealing barley sugar finish, but doesn't quite have the freshness on some of the other wines. But still very good. 17/20

Chateau Doisy-Védrines 2003: Quite ethereal, white flower nose, with rich honey and barley sugar undertones. Good character on the palate, which has a very fresh style, although it carries worthy peach and other stone fruit flavour, with a fine honey sweetness. Lovely weight and presence. Very good. 18/20

Chateau Guiraud 2003: A big nose of honey-coated fruit here, and a big, flavoursome palate to match. Full, firm character, with decent botrytis influence. Rich and opulent style, with a great sweetness. Should make good drinking. 17/20

Chateau La Tour Blanche 2003: A gentle honey and quince nose. Such gentleness carries onto the palate, which is pleasantly sweet with a light botrytis character. Nevertheless it has a good presence on the palate, with a fresh feel, leading to a clean finish. Less impact than some wines, but will make very good drinking. I much preferred the 2001. 16.5/20

Chateau Lafaurie Peyraguey 2003: Rich nose, very suggestive of fatness to come, with great floral-edged honey and botrytis aromas. Obviously youthful. Huge weight on the palate, which is weighty, rich and creamy. This does have a very fat, opulent style, but with correct acidity. Wonderful presence on the palate, but it does need some time for the complexity to develop. 18.5/20

Chateau Nairac 2003: Real richness here; the botrytis aromas of honey and quince just leap from the glass. Full, opulent, creamy palate, combining richness and great style. White peach with a floral, aromatic quality, and lovely botrytis character. Delightfully fresh acidity, and a cheekily meaty finish. This is very good indeed. 18/20

Chateau Sigalas-Rabaud 2003: A lovely nose, fresh but with an obvious seam of oak. There is still plenty of oak swamping the palate at present as well, damping down any other flavours that might be present. But it has good texture, and a sweet, fat richness, and essential acidity. This will come good as the oak is absorbed. 16.5+/20

Chateau Suduiraut 2003: A simply gorgeous nose. Honey, beeswax, acacia and orange character, and on the palate it is full and has impressive depth. Really meaty, ripe and opulently textured. Lovely substance here, fresh acidity, and stunningly precise, persistent flavours. This is divine. Of every wine at the UGCB tasting, this is the only one I would come back to for pleasure rather than reassessment. Excellent. Eclipses the 2001 at present. 19/20