Bordeaux 2003 at Two Years: Pessac-Léognan
In Graves we have gravel of course, a soil type that drains very well and conceivably this might cause difficulties in a vintage characterised by heat stress and low rainfall. In addition, many of the region’s best wines are white, and as I have already mentioned in my introduction to Bordeaux 2003 these have the most to lose, namely freshness and acidity, in the event of excessively hot weather. Nevertheless, freshness, acidity, and a floral-minerality are essential or attractive features in the red wines of the region also, and although this is a region dominated by Cabernet over Merlot it seems clear that the quality of the fruit for both white and red wines was in jeopardy here.
On tasting I found the whites to be a dismal lot; flabby, unfocused, lacking in freshness and flavour. I cannot recommend any of these. The reds were a fairly mixed bunch of fair to good wines, with a couple showing the problems that may come to be associated with this vintage; low acidity and incongruous tannins. (25/10/05)
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