The 2003 vintage followed that incredibly hot summer when temperatures were up in the 40 degrees Celsius (well into the 100’s Fahrenheit) day after day, At Vinexpo, that pivotal wine fair held in Bordeaux every two years, iced water was the star of the show. There was very little rain and in a land where irrigation is simply not allowed, there was a severe risk of the grapes shriveling. Mercifully the rain arrived in time and good quantities of very ripe sometimes shrivelled grapes with low acidity were harvested. Some of the fruit tasted stewed, some simply luscious.

Nobody felt that the wines would be anything more than massively fruity and fairly short-lived because of the over-ripe tannins and lack of acidity. Well Bordeaux is an amazing region for great wines and the 2003’s stubbornly wanted to be amongst them and now we are seeing a surprising number of very classy wines – in particular from the Medoc – showing great complexity.

Recently I enjoyed drinking three examples of this fascinating vintage

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 2003 Pauillac
Nice sweet, cassis nose, also chocolatey, and rich. It was concentrated, sweet and full. The palate was firm, complex and had full rich spicy fruit and firm tannins. It had wonderful balance and great length. Very special

Château Cos d’Estournel 2003 Ste Estephe
A wonderful velvety, toasty nose that’s round and powerful. It was very rich wine with plenty of ripeness and luscious fruit with a coffee edge to it. It has balanced oak and enormous concentration. A wine with enormous power and potential longevity

Château Pavie2003, St Emilion
Surprisingly from the right bank where wines were not generally as successful as those from the Northern Medoc, this wine showed great class. At once it had rich and chocolately with roast coffee notes and some very sweet dark fruits. The palate was powerful, full and concentrated with plenty of oak influence, along with the sweet fruit. Really delicious and still a keeper.