2003 Wine

jamessuckling.com, 96 points: A wonderful and fascinating wine with a tangy sweet and sour character. Full and very sweet, with a dried citrus character and an underlying orange marmalade note. Long and delicious already. Lovely balance for having...

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, 96 points: A magnificent Dow. A deep opaque purple/black colour. Very youthful in appearance. The nose is very pure and as primal as its appearance: blackberry, liquorice, black olive and an engaging sense of minerality. But it is...

Wine Spectator, 92 points: What a beautiful and opulent wine. Aromas of chocolate berry and raspberry. Full-bodied with velvety tannins. Long finish. Elegant. Best after 2008. 2000 cases made. –JS

Wine Spectator, 94 points: A standout; ripe plush complex and concentrated with layers of generous plum currant and blackberry fruit framed by judicious toasty oak. Finishes with a flourish of flavors. Score range: 92-94 (JL)

Wine Enthusiast, 97 points: Fonseca vintage Ports are always among the most attractive and long-lived. This 2003 conforms magnificently to that model. It is structured, rich, powerful and opulent. There are cassis and black fig flavors, as well as...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 points: Amazing! The limestone soils of Ausone appear to have been the perfect foil for resisting the extreme heat and drought of June, July and August, 2003. This black/purple-colored effort boasts a glorious nose of violets...

Wine Spectator, 93 points: Tight at first but quickly picks up steam in the glass with dark cherry plum tobacco pepper mineral and hot stone notes pumping through the long fruit- and terroir-filled finish. Really fleshes out nicely with velvety...

Antonio Galloni's Vinous, 95 points: As always, the 2003 Dom Pérignon has a lot to say. Bold, powerful and intensely phenolic in feel, the 2003 packs serious energy to match its explosive personality. The combined effects of a spring frost that decimated...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, 95 points: Inky ruby. Highly aromatic scents of ripe cherry and dark berries, singed plum, cured tobacco and succulent herbs, with a vanilla undertone. Sweet, expansive and powerful, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: The spectacular 2003 Leoville Poyferre exhibits a dense purple color with a touch of lightening at the edge as well as notes of creosote, barbecue smoke, jammy black currants, licorice and spice box. This intense...

Wine & Spirits, 94 points: From the Plateau de la Crau in the southeast portion of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Bruniers produce this wine from vines averaging 50 years of age. The brooding, densely ripe 2003 feels richer and bigger than the 2001 or...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: This sumptuous, rich, complex Margaux reveals a fragrant nose of cedarwood, spring flowers, spice box, black currants and earth. Medium to full-bodied with silky tannins and a dense, plum/ruby/purple color, this fully...