Château Pichon Comtesse 2003

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

Red fruit, crushed cherry, dense palate, powerful yet soft tannin on the attack. The second sequence is tighter, with a sensation of sweetness from the well-ripened fruit.

Blend of the 2003 vintage

Figures from the 2003 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 35 yrsVine age
• 200,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

After the grapes are received, destemmed and crushed, they are directed to the cuverie, lined with temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks of varying capacities, allowing for precise, rigorous plot-by-plot selection. Vatting time varies from 18 to 24 days depending on the year. Frequent pump-overs are carried out to extract the maximum colour and tannin.

Ageing

20 months in barrel (50% new)

Terroir

Close to the river, the 78 hectares of vines cross the Saint-Julien jalle to draw nearer to the Léoville plateau, before extending over the great Pichon Longueville plateau in the south of the Pauillac appellation. The exceptional richness of the Pauillac appellation is the result of a poor, meagre soil. The rises are formed of gravel over clay, a composition that ensures excellent drainage. It is these Quaternary gravels, known as Garonne gravels, and in particular those of the Günz terrace, the oldest and topographically the highest, that account for the quality of the finest vineyards of the Haut-Médoc.