2003 Not Yet Great Vintage

[Craig Camp]

If picking early were a sure sign of wine quality then we wine writers would laud the wines of Alicante and California's workhorse Central Valley above all others. We do not.

[badthings]

I can hardly wait: 2003 Nuits-St.-Georges Dry Creek zin.

[Auxerrois]

I don't know, I think Chateau Mouton Sine Que Non has a nice ring to it. Well there's always next year.

[ctgm]

Interesting piece in the newspapers here in the UK over the weekend about the Bordelais. Having for years and years criticised the wine making practices of the Americans, Australians, hell anyone who isn't French (even if they have vineyards in France) they look set to adopt a few of the New World practices.

As JRs column said, they may be in all sorts of trouble (I have heard thru the grape vine that 2003 could either be like 1947 or 1976). The newspaper article said that for the first time ever they (IANO) are going to permit the Bordelais (and no doubt everyone else) to regulate the wine's acidity which for the past x many years the French have criticised other countries for doing.

[Auxerrois]

In Chateaunuf-Du-Pape it is already legal to reacidify. If all of France gets to this year I think the momentum will continue into future vintages and generaly become a regular practice. Well there be a great excuse for the boxes of cream of tartar lying around, they go hand in hand with the bags of sugar that are there in every other vintage.

[Mark Sommelier]

For those interested, Bobby Kacher posted an interesting harvest report on Mark Squires bulletin board at the eRobertParker website. The bulletin board can be read without registering. Look at:

http://www.erobertparker.com