2003 Clos des Lambrays
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Tasting notes
Full medium red! Superripe, distinctly dark aromas of cassis, black cherry, licorice, mocha and wild herbs; not quite roasted but clearly very ripe. Fat, broad and distinctly thick in the mouth; more filled in than most of the previous vintages but displays a dried-grape quality and conveys an obvious impression of thick skins. This huge wine was amazingly chewy but a bit more plush in the early days but today there's a distinct aggressiveness to its black fruit, licorice, eucalyptus and smoky herb flavors. Finishes with powerful, building, somewhat unrefined tannins. I wanted a bit more juiciness but this may yet improve as it possesses a very strong core of black fruits. It should be long-lived. (13.6% alcohol; 3.45 pH; 3.5 g/l acidity; from fruit harvested on August 24)
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
The Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Good full, deep red. Musky, brooding aromas of black raspberry, plum, smoky oak and game; not especially extreme in the context of the vintage. Then thick, dense, chewy and sweet; as superripe, layered and generous as this is, it also retains very good verve and a bit of restraint. Finishes with huge tannins and a whiplash of mocha and roasted herb flavors. This very large-scaled wine really calls for a decade of bottle aging. These 2003s have turned out very well.
Very seductive nose – concentrated and with some development – opulent and rich with quite enough acidity and great depth and character. A massive wine but it has everything in balance. (JR)
Aged in 75% new oak, the tobacco, blackberry, leather, and tar-scented 2003 Clos des Lambrays is medium to full-bodied, dense, and chewy. Hugely tannic yet concentrated and deep, this is a brooding chocolate, plum, blackberry, spice, smoky mineral, and black raspberry-flavored wine. Uncivilized and firm, it will benefit from cellaring. Projected maturity: 2009-2020. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Peter Weygandt, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800
About the producer
Domaine des Lambrays is one of Morey-Saint-Denis’s most famous estates, its history closely tied to the Grand Cru from which it takes its name – Clos des Lambrays.