The 2003 Burgundy vintage is short in quantity, the result of an excessively hot summer following on from a savage attack of frost in April.

The 2003 Burgundy vintage is short in quantity, the result of an excessively hot summer following on from a savage attack of frost in April. It’s largely disappointing for whites, although the red wines are good if not classic, and the Beaujolais are splendid.

In the Côte d’Or, only those cooler areas unaffected by the frost have produced white wines of balance and freshness. If it’s whites you’re after, you’re best advised to go back to 2002, or wait for 2004 which is showing early promise. Unless, of course, you’re a fan of Aligoté – this usually tart variety has produced some unusually ripe 2003s.

For the reds, it’s an even more uneven vintage than ususal. Stick to the top estates and you will not go wrong. That said, 2003 is better in the Côte de Nuits than the Côte de Beaune, and at its most successful in those communes which normally produce the most robust wines (as a result of the high proportion of clay in their soils). This means, in general, take Pommard rather than Volnay, Corton or Nuits-Saint-Georges rather than Vosne-Romanée, and Gevrey-Chambertin rather than Morey-Saint-Denis.

Clive Coates MW
Clive Coates MW
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer
Clive Coates is one of the world's leading wine writers. He published his first article in 1967. At first he concentrated on Bordeaux, becoming well known for his Chateau Profiles and Vintage Assessments. In 1984 he set up his own magazine, The Vine, and began to spend a lot more attention on Burgundy. Burgundy was going through a revolution, with a new generation of wine-makers who were vinifying more carefully, using temperature control for instance, cultivating their vineyards by increasingly biodynamic methods, and bottling and marketing their wines themselves. Clive was there from the beginning. With a group of professional wine friends he organised comprehensive vintage tastings; at three and en years on. He has written nine books on wine. Three on Bordeaux, three on Bordeaux and three on the Wines of France. He lives in the Mâconnais.