Pauillac · vintage 2003
Château Clerc Milon 2003
Ageing potential10-15 years
Why this vintage
- The 2003 vintage in PauillacThe historic heatwave halted ripening in young vines: very ripe, low-acid wines, at their best in Saint-Estèphe, where the clays held on to freshness.
- Ageing potential10-15 years
The 2003 vintage in Pauillac
Vintage benchmark: 88/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: The historic heatwave halted ripening in young vines: very ripe, low-acid wines, at their best in Saint-Estèphe, where the clays held on to freshness.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
The color is deep and shiny, with a brick-red rim. Solar and intense nose, slightly minty which opens with aromas of almond, quince paste, roasting and licorice. The palate quickly imposes itself with its sweetness, its power and its density. It reveals perfectly matured and still grippy tannins. The retro-olfaction is faithful to the nose with the expression of very beautiful maturity of the fruit, coffee and a resinous hint. An impression of fullness on the palate and excellent balance accompanies a voluptuous finish, for an atypical vintage ready to drink.
Blend of the 2003 vintage
- 55 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 39 % Merlot
- 3 % Cabernet franc
- 2 % Petit verdot
- 1 % Carménère
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2003 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot, carménère — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2003 sheet
- 13 % vol.Alcohol
- 52 yrsVine age
Winemaking
After manual sorting, the grape berries are transferred to the vats using mobile vats. The 40-vat gravity vat allows for reduced handling and pumping: their integrity being better ensured, the berries thus retain all their flavors.
Ageing
The ageing of Château Clerc Milon takes place over a period of 16 to 18 months and 40% in new oak barrels.
Terroir
Château Clerc-Milon is a 5ème cru classé of 1855 in the Pauillac appellation, which alone holds three premiers crus and many other crus classés. Made up of gravelly and sandy ridges, often ideally exposed, this terroir produces wines that combine power and structure with elegance and finesse. Château Clerc-Milon, whose vines lie immediately next to those of the premiers crus Mouton and Lafite, belongs to Mouton-Rothschild, which applies the same rigour in viticulture and winemaking. The plantings at Château Clerc-Milon are 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Carménère.
An offer on Château Clerc Milon 2003
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2003
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
For this vintage, the media library contains: packshots. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 21, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.