2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

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jckba
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2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by jckba »

A wonderfully fragrant nose of blackberry and cedar that lead way to a full bodied wine with layers of silky blackberry, tobacco leaf and mint flavors that dance and linger on the palate staining finish. Still youthful but this is the real deal and a marvelous 2003. 97 points
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JimHow
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by JimHow »

I loved this wine when we had it with a bunch of other 2003s with Blanquito a few years back.
In fact, I love this estate. I'm holding off cracking open my case of 2002 Leoville Barton out of fear that I'll drink them all if I do so.
Leoville Barton is one of the 16 estates we are visiting in Bordeaux in May and I am very much looking forward to it.
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Comte Flaneur
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by Comte Flaneur »

We had a Leoville, Langoa vertical with Lillian Barton in London in November last year. She was a bit disparaging about her 2003...she said the heat was a problem and that she thought it would go well with Chinese food!

I thought it was fun to drink and gives a lot of pleasure now, but in my opinion it wasn't really at the same level as the other vintages of Leoville: 2008, 2006, 2004, 1999 and 1996. Nor the Langoas: 2010 2005 and 2000.
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jckba
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by jckba »

Meaning heat in the context of the vintage or in the context of a higher alcohol content and it showing in the wine (as that was not something that I noticed)?
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Comte Flaneur
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by Comte Flaneur »

It was more to do with the heat rather than the alcohol. I remember she made a point that the heat was so torrid that it presented a significant challenge to the winemaking and made it difficult to fashion a traditional Barton.

I got the impression from her that this estate is very conservative and rooted in tradition not in terms of eschewing technological advances but in terms of fashioning classic style wines. She made one or two disparaging references to estates going for a more modern style.

Re the 2003 she suggested that there was no point in delaying gratification, it is very enjoyable now even if it is atypical for the estate. That stands in stark contrast to the 2000 Leoville Barton which she didn't bring because she said it was still shut down.

Fwiw I recently tried Ducru and LLC 2003s and they are similar wines - accessible but atypical, and I would say in quality terms well below what these estates are capable of producing.

It will be interesting to hear what the Bordelais think about their 03s when we visit in May. We can ask Lilian Barton directly when she receives us, but unless I misconstrued what she was saying in November she made her thoughts pretty clear.
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AKR
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by AKR »

The difference between 03 and other years (to me) is based on what mother nature dealt, rather than interventionist practices.

I think its fine to have those differences in the cellar, and its creates some diversity among drinking windows.

IIRC 1976 was also a hot year, and the wines supposedly were enjoyable early on, but fell apart over time. I recall very few but think Josh W poured one or two for us on a Boston trip once, which had cracked up.

So perhaps 03 needs to be considered the same way. Perhaps for an estate used to making 50 year wines, they would find it annoying. But did they really do anything differently?
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by Comte Flaneur »

Interesting Arv. I agree I think they try to deal as best they can with what Mother Nature delivers.

One of my German friends Rainer who is a very experienced taster and Bordeaux lover, having tasted Latour and Lafite 2003, reckons that Parker was spot on with the 2003s and that they will not only be long lived but will be a modern day version of the 1959s!

This was in response to my provocative hypothesis that whereas 1982 was the vintage he nailed 2003 was the vintage where he really screwed up. I have not tried these but given their ruthless selection I am sure Latour and Lafite would have fashioned good wines.

So it seems that opinions are becoming polarised on the 2003s. However based on what I have tried I am more in your camp.
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AKR
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by AKR »

Comte Flaneur wrote:Interesting Arv. I agree I think they try to deal as best they can with what Mother Nature delivers.

One of my German friends Rainer who is a very experienced taster and Bordeaux lover, having tasted Latour and Lafite 2003, reckons that Parker was spot on with the 2003s and that they will not only be long lived but will be a modern day version of the 1959s!

This was in response to my provocative hypothesis that whereas 1982 was the vintage he nailed 2003 was the vintage where he really screwed up. I have not tried these but given their ruthless selection I am sure Latour and Lafite would have fashioned good wines.

So it seems that opinions are becoming polarised on the 2003s. However based on what I have tried I am more in your camp.
It's probably more interesting / useful to have a blind panel tasting for this kind of thing. Otherwise people just hold fast to opinions.

I remember some tasting a long time ago where a very fine classical great Bordeaux was inserted into a humble bottle.

It's poor breeding and performance was denounced during the tasting.

As dessert was being passed around the contributor mentioned that they had not actually brought a 1991 Ch. Low Brow to the tasting but instead a. 1990 Gruad.....

So that was instructive! Fortunately I'd kept my big mouth shut when it was being assessed.
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JimHow
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by JimHow »

It's probably more interesting / useful to have a blind panel tasting for this kind of thing. Otherwise people just hold fast to opinions.
Exactly. I've been saying that for years.

As I recall the low brow 1982 Branaire performed very well against five other 1982 heavyweights at the blind tasting put on by the Anonymous Benefactor at NYC '03.
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Comte Flaneur
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by Comte Flaneur »

Arv, I don't necessarily agree.

It is easy to be fooled by superficially flattering wines. Then you get to the second glass and it gets hard work. But in a blind tasting you have moved on by 2, 5, 10 wines by then.

Parker tasted at 100mph so you soup up the wines to make him take notice. The more his palate got shot the more the Spoofy stuff stood out.

That's why such wines tend to show up really well. If I was tasting L-B or Ducru 03 blind then moving quickly on I might be similarly fooled.

Classic example was comparing the second wines of Cos 1996 and 2003. Pagodes. The 2003 was fast out of the blocks, then the 1996 ran rings around it.
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AKR
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by AKR »

Then just do a couple of wines blind versus each other, maybe having the SO know which is which.

Or have a small dinner party / tasting with only maybe 4 wines, over the course of a few hours.

Where the idea isn't to taste 50 things blind.

But to see whether one can identify across one dimension, like vintage or bottling level (second/main/tete du cuvee etc.)

Although I'm mildly interested in these things, its a lot of effort to organize this stuff.

The jacked up wines don't taste so well when consumed on their own. I personally never cared for all the crazy Oz stuff, even when there was some buzz about them. Although some of the dessert tokays are nice. But the dry ones were out of control.
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by DavidG »

Ian, you are right on the money regarding tasting vs. drinking. Arv has the solution, but who's got the time?
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Comte Flaneur
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by Comte Flaneur »

Yes David it is time consuming.

But as I mentioned briefly sitting down and comparing Pagodes 96 and 03 was an eye opener. If I was speed tasting I would have probably been more wowed by the 2003, which was the most immediately appealing, but it soon became apparent as the wines began to express themselves - perhaps on the second and third glasses - that the 2003 was a bit hot, out of balance and becoming tiring to drink, while the 1096 was fresher, more balanced, more lifted. Altogether the better wine. It took a little while to figure that out.

At the Decanter Masterclass in November with Lillian Sartorius it was interesting to flip back and fourth between the 03 and the 04/06/08.

Those masterclasses are really great, because you typically compare and discuss ten wines over 90 minutes with the winemaker/owner. We have one on 13 April with Monsieur Borie from Ducru Beaucaillou, and one on 9 May with Pichon Lalande, the day before we set off for France...to The BWE convention via burgundy.

http://www.amiando.com/Bordeaux2015.htm ... ge=1198579

That's me in the orange suede jacket on the right at a previous masterclass
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AKR
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by AKR »

Those prices seem very reasonable for the quality and range of vintages offered.

Did you wear that jacket the last time we saw you? I seem to remember it.

I've generally avoided Pagodes de Cos (although I might have also drank 96 and 03 at one point or another) but I'll confess to buying a lonely bottle of either the 09 or 10.

Time will tell if its as good/better than the prior vintages of the Grand Vin.
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jckba
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by jckba »

A late Sunday lunch of skirt steak and a medley of potatoes, oyster mushrooms, shallots and bacon served alongside a 2003 Chateau Leoville Barton; decanted for about an hour and this was wonderfully fragrant with a soaring nose of ripe blackberry, raspberry, forest floor, tobacco and cedar scents that led to an expressive, mouth coating blackberry, leather and tobacco leaf flavored palate that echo on the long finish. A wine that expresses its sense of place without flaw. 96
2003 Leoville Barton
2003 Leoville Barton
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Nicklasss
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by Nicklasss »

Very nice JC.

JeanFred opened a 2003 Léo Barton to one of our dinners and i liked it too.

Nic
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AKR
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Re: 2003 Leoville Barton uncorked

Post by AKR »

Great picture!
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