James Suckling
ses 6 top-favoris:
Haut-Brion
Mission Haut Brion
Latour
Pavie
Gruaud Larose
Pichon Baron
The enigma of Bordeaux's newest vintage
You're going to have to rethink Bordeaux. The 2003 vintage in France's premier wine region has produced some extraordinary wines. In two decades of tasting Bordeaux from barrel, I have never encountered anything like them.
They remind me more of wines from California's Napa Valley, Tuscany's Bolgheri or Australia's Barossa Valley than Pomerol, St.-Emilion or Margaux. But the very top wines remain very Bordeaux-like, with solid backbones of tannins, excellent length and a surprising freshness.
I am now in Bordeaux, where I have already tasted hundreds of red wines from barrel. When I'm finished, I will have tasted about 500 wines from around the region. I will also taste a number of Sauternes and top white wines from 2003. The first set of tasting notes will be published here on Friday, April 2.
Is 2003 a great vintage? It is still too early to say. I have not tasted many of the top wines yet, but after sampling more than 375 wines, I can already confirm that there are some exciting, even amazing, wines from 2003. Based on my experience so far, in blind tastings at the Bordeaux hotel Les Sources de Caudalie, as well as in tastings at numerous châteaus, 2003 clearly has the potential to be outstanding (90-94 points on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale). The problem is, quality seems to be inconsistent from one part of Bordeaux to another.
So far, I have found six wines worthy of 95-100 points, or classic quality: Haut-Brion and La Mission-Haut-Brion in Pessac-Léognan, Pavie in St.-Emilion, Gruard-Larose in St.-Julien, and Latour and Pichon-Baron in Pauillac. Fourteen other wines have received scores of 92-94.
The 2003 Bordeaux in general are fruit-forward young reds with lots of ripe fruit (verging on jam), soft tannins and low acidity. They remind me of Cabernets from Napa Valley, due to their richness and hot-climate style. But some of the best wines also remind me of such great Bordeaux vintages as 1982, 1989 and 1990.
Bordeaux had its hottest summer ever last year. Some producers said that temperatures reached almost 120 degrees F in the afternoon sun in August. Wine producers in Bordeaux have already made comparisons to other top hot vintages such as 1945, 1947, 1961, 1982, and 1989. However, others are scratching their heads trying to make a comparison. "It's hard to say, really," said Bruno Borie of Ducru-Beaucaillou. "I have never tasted a young wine like my 2003. I am very happy with the quality, though."
It's too early for me to say whether 2003 is comparable to one of those great vintages. I doubt it though. Those vintages -- with perhaps the exception of 1947 -- were outstanding across the board, and there were dozens of classic-quality wines. Only a few of the 2003s may reach such a zenith of quality.
This year is clearly a Cabernet Sauvignon vintage (and perhaps Cabernet Franc). The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were less affected by the incredibly hot weather during the summer, due to their thick skins and late ripening. Petit Verdot was also excellent, but it is only used in small quantities in blends.
The best wines of the vintage appear to have been produced in the northern Médoc, in appellations such as St.-Julien, Pauillac and St.-Estèphe. Wines from these regions are generally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. I expect to have many more high-scoring wines when I finish my extensive tastings this week at châteaus in the Médoc, including all of the first growths and super seconds.
By comparison, the Merlots on the whole just don't have the tannin definition and length of the Cabernets. And wines that rely on a high percentage of Merlot were less successful. "For Cabernet, I can say that it is better than 2000, 2001, and 2002, but not for Merlot," said Jean-Guillaume Prats, CEO of Château Cos-d'Estournel, just after the harvest.
So far the most disappointing appellation has been Pomerol. The wines have pleasant fruit, but they lack structure and are very short. Perhaps the Merlot was just too overripe? Or the vines stopped working due to the boiling weather?
The fact that the Thienpont family is not bottling its hugely famous Château Le Pin underlines the difficulty of the Merlot in Pomerol. They only made seven barrels of 2003, and the wine apparently does not merit the Le Pin label. I tasted it late last year, and I thought it was good quality, but the Thienponts say it is not good enough. Meanwhile, the Moueix family members say they are very pleased with their superstar Pomerols such as Pétrus and Trotanoy. I will taste the wines soon.
I will also taste a number of Sauternes and top white wines from 2003 during the week. Reports are that the dry whites are exceptional, even though such hot weather normally burns a lot of the goodness out of white grapes. And Sauternes is also supposed to be exceptional. The tastings of these wines should be most interesting.
Wine merchants from all over the world seem to be descending on Bordeaux this week to taste the region's newest vintage from barrel. "We have had a lot of interest in 2003," said Thomas Hudson of London wine merchant Farr Vintners, one of the biggest traders in fine Bordeaux in the world. "We had one of the hottest summers ever in England. So everyone is excited by the idea that great wine was made in France."
The merchants are all wondering what the initial prices will be when the châteaus begin to announce their futures pricing next month. Some producers say they are going to raise prices because they made 20 percent to 35 percent less wine than normal in 2003. Sounds like a bad idea to me.
"Whatever happens, this is going to be a vintage when consumers focus on a few top names," said François Thienpont, a successful Bordeaux wine merchant, who also makes one of the region's best value reds, Château Puygueraud, from the Côtes de Francs. "The rest of the wines may be left on the sidelines. We have to be careful with pricing."
My detailed tasting notes will be published exclusively on Wine Spectator Online, beginning on Friday, April 2. Check back then for my comprehensive report on this extraordinary vintage.
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