TN: 2003 Pontet Canet

[JCNorthway]

We had company for dinner last night, so I decided to open this wine to go with steak au poivre.

This has been a controversial wine on this site with opinions kind of all over the place. I've drunk several bottles over the years, and I think the wine last night was the best I have experienced with it. I decanted it for what became 4 hours by the time we sat down. And I think it needed every bit of that time. It is still quite youthful in its structure and full bodied fruit flavors. But I did not experience it to be over the top like many 2003's that suffered from the heat. I was glad to have the full body to cut the flavors of the meat; in fact it turned out to be a great pairing. At age 21, I think that properly stored bottles of this are only beginning to show their stuff. I'm glad to have a few more bottles.

[JimHow]

Thanks for the report, Jon, I have definitely experienced the highs and lows of this wine. It was of course a BWE wine of the year, and I remember being so enthusiastic about it in its infancy. Then it went into an awkward stage from hell. By the time we had it with Alfred Tesseron at lunch at the chateau in 2015 it seemed to be resolving into a pleasant enough wine, if not thrilling. Even then, there was controversy: My friend Tony said it was his favorite wine of the entire trip, I think Ian was less than impressed, if I recall. I have a 3L bottle left, I'll likely hold it for some future BWE gathering, or perhaps drink it with the mighty Stefan in the Great Tasting Room in the Sky.

[robert goulet]

I'm yet to be impressed by this...going to wait another 4-5 before I pop my next one

[JimHow]

When it was first released it was black as midnight, voluptuous, slutty, Pauillac on steroids. And then it went into a decade of awkwardness, imbalance, a pure mess. It is the poster child of 2003 volatility. But every now and then we get a note like that from Jon above. I have none left in regular sized format. I might uncork my 3L at a wedding this summer.

[Ianjaig]

Thanks for the note. I bought a single bottle of this at auction just before Xmas and was unsure of when to open. Sounds like it needs more time and fingers crossed that it shows up ok. I understand that the owners of PC elected to serve this vintage during a family wedding as they clearly hold it in high regard.

[JimHow]

This wine raised questions in my mind about the ability to project the long term success of any vintage. I was obsessed with this wine upon release. Now, not so much. Notes like Jon’s give me some hope that it will turn out okay.

[JimHow]

I remember we had a tasting with blanquito in NYC of some of the usual suspects from the 2003 vintage. It must have been around 2008 or so, wines like Duhart, Sociando, Leoville Barton, etc. I remember we were very impressed with the wines at that stage, and predicted a good future for them. We’ll have to do a tasting of 2003s at some point and see if any of them have survived the passage of time.