As usual we opened some older and special bottles of wine this holiday season. A Brunello from 2000, a more recent Napa Cab, a really good Italian Merlot; all were vanquished. The best of the bunch however was probably the Bordeaux we popped on New Year’s eve. This was a beautiful wine, perfectly integrated and still holding onto the freshness of youth while gaining some of the elegance of age. It really is drinking well. Here it is:
Wine: 2003 Chateau Faugéres
Winery Location: St. Émilion, Bordeaux. Right Bank.
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: December 2023
Tasting Notes: the color is still a dark purple, not showing much sign of age except for an almost imperceptibly thin ring of amber at the rim. The nose is full of dark berries at the core, framed by caramel, chocolate, tobacco and vanilla. This is just full bodied. It is a wine which is beautifully integrated, smooth and long. Drink this now, although it will hold on for some time yet. It’s hard to imagine it getting better.
Price Point – Can’t find any online. If you do see it I would suspect it will be in the $60 range.
Would We Buy It? – Yes. If you like Bordeaux, especially aged Bordeaux, then you will love this wine.
The 2003 vintage in Bordeaux was considered very good. It was sandwiched between the great 2000 and 2005 vintages, so the bar was pretty high. We’ve had many 2003’s over the years and they have all been excellent. Sadly I don’t think we have more than one or two left. You can’t keep it forever.
We’ve been drinking a lot of wine from around the world lately, but not from Bordeaux. This bottle makes me want to pull more out, which we will, and share the results.
A votre santé!
Leave a Reply