2003 was an exceptional vintage in weather terms and will be one of the most interesting vintages for the Bordeaux love.

From the first taste of the lowly appellation Bordeaux Rouge at Le Cercle Rive Droite’s presentation at Chateau Laroque on March 28th, to the last sip of Chateau Smith–Haut–Lafitte 1961 – purchased at Christie’s by the the Cathiards – at lunch on April 1st, I don’t think I have had a more interesting en primeur experience. Even on the Right Bank, where the drought conditons had burnt out many parcels of Merlot, producers were raving about the quality of their Cabernet Franc. In the Graves, the white wines were fabulusly ripe, Sauternes had notched up another great vintage and in the Medoc, the further north one went, the better the wines. 2003 was an exceptional vintage in weather terms and will be one of the most interesting vintages for the Bordeaux lover.

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Steven Spurrier
Steven Spurrier
Decanter Magazine, Consultant Editor
Decanter’s consultant editor Steven Spurrier joined the wine trade in London in 1964 and later moved to Paris where he bought a wine shop in 1971, and then opened L’Academie du Vin, France’s first private wine school in 1973. Spurrier staged the historic 1976 blind tasting between wines from California and France, the Judgment of Paris, and in the 1980s he wrote several wine books and created the Christie’s Wine Course with then senior wine director Michael Broadbent, a veteran Decanter columnist. In 1988 Spurrier returned to the UK to focus on writing and consultancy, with his clients including Singapore Airlines. He has won several awards, including Le Personalité de l’Année (oenology) 1988 for services to French wine and the Maestro Award in honour of California wine legend André Tchelistcheff (2011) and is president of the Circle of Wine Writers as well as founding the Wine Society of India. He also produced his own wine, Bride Valley Brut, from his vines in Dorset.