Cigar box, jammy black raspberry, mint, ash, tobacco, cedar wood, cloves, cinnamon and wet forest floor notes start the fireworks. On the palate, the rich, sensuous, flamboyant, showy wine is a hedonistic treat for the senses from start to finish. The early harvest took place between September 15 and September 25. The wine was made from a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2003&wine=Chateau%20Mouton%20Rothschild

This wine is dominated by new wood which goes right through the big dark fruit flavors and tannins. Very ripe cassis flavors are under this wood waiting likely for many years before the wood flavors subside. This is very much in the modern polished style of Mouton today made even more pronounced by the heat of the 2003 vintage.

Shows the heat of the vintage, as well as the slightly extracted feel of Dhalluin's predecessor, with a hint of jamminess to the mix of raspberry, plum and fig fruit, along with melted licorice, charred cedar and singed vanilla bean accents and a very light echo of caramel through the finish. Even with all that, there's a flash of minty freshness lurking throughout. There's lots here, but it's a bit atypical.—Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Drink now through 2031. - JM

The 2003 harvest began on September 15 and finished ten days later. The result is an outstanding 2003 Mouton-Rothschild, but it is not one of the superstars of Pauillac or the Northern Médoc. Its nearby neighbors, Lafite-Rothschild, Cos d’Estournel and Montrose, all produced wines that qualitatively dominate this effort from Mouton-Rothschild. Nevertheless, there is a lot to like. The tannins, which were so tough initially, have softened somewhat, and the nose offers up notes of cedarwood, roasted coffee, tobacco leaf and red and blackcurrants. This spicy, earthy, fleshy, medium to full-bodied 2003 is not one of the stars of the vintage. It is close to full maturity, where it should remain for another 10-15 years. - Robert M. Parker, Jr.