Coming from a baking hot vintage, the 2003 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is nevertheless incredibly pure and balanced, with medium to full-bodied richness as well as textbook darker fruits, smoked tobacco, dried flowers, and a beautiful sense of minerality. Despite the vintage, nothing is out of place and the overall impression is a ripe, balanced, utterly classic Médoc, and the alcohol is a middle-of-the-road 13.5%. It's fully mature today yet has another 10-15 years of prime drinking followed by a graceful decline thereafter.

A hot, dry summer resulted in a tiny production of under 10,000 cases of 2003 Ducru Beaucaillou from yields of 35 hectoliters per hectare. This beauty boasts a deep plum/ruby/purple color with a touch of lightening at the edge. Aromas of licorice, creme de cassis, incense and spring flowers are followed by a full-bodied, opulent wine with loads of fruit and glycerin as well as a plush texture. It is just entering its plateau of maturity where it should remain for another 10-15 years.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #214, Aug 2014)

Produced the very first year that Bruno Borie took over management of the estate, there was no leaf thinning in July during this notoriously hot summer, allowing for more shade on the bunches. Medium to deep garnet in color with a touch of brick, the 2003 Ducru-Beaucaillou reveals opulent notes of Indian spices, cigar box, sandalwood and licorice with a crème de cassis and plum preserves core plus a hint of rose oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm, chewy texture and lovely freshness delivering a very long, spicy finish.

Quality 878 | Brand 993 | Economics 905 |
Quality: The highest Quality score in its peer group for the 2003 vintage, at 878 compared to a peer group average of 712 Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 44 of the world's top wine lists, including Le Calandre Economics: More traded at auction than its peers, its top 5 vintages having seen 3,041 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production:

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

Deep ruby-red. Liqueur-like aromas of roasted dark berries, kirsch, cedar, cigar box and coconutty oak. Highly concentrated, liqueur-like, fat and sweet; a huge Ducru with an utterly seamless texture. Wonderfully sweet flavors of roasted black fruits, cedar and graphite. Whether this has the spine and energy for a long life in bottle remains to be seen, but this is improbably sexy Ducru.

Tasted at Farr’s Ducru-Beaucaillou dinner at the Ledbury. This is not the best bottle of 2003 Ducru that I have encountered for it does not have the precision that I was hoping for. It has a sweet blackberry, dark plum and camphor-tinged bouquet whilst the palate is full-bodied with furry, very firm tannins. The finish is loaded with glycerin that coats the mouth, but it does not show any excessive heat. Tasted October 2010.

– eRobertParker.com, Nov 2011

Still a bright appearance, with plenty of life, even vigour, on the nose. The aroma of roasted fruits, but not a roasted aroma per se. The palate demonstrates the idiocy of those who describe 2003 as a ‘New World’ vintage, whatever that means: the extreme heat is here expressed as a Mediterranean style, with rustic tannin and a sort of Tuscan-tomato flavour. It is far from classic, but a good drink in the shortish term. (AH)

Very deep colour. Deep rich nose with grainy tannins. A lack of fruit in middle. Lots of Cabernet Sauvignon character but a bit skinny. Inky finish. Very different from the most successful Ducrus of yesteryear. Yield was apparently 38 hl/ha and the IPT as high as 80. Tough stuff but not charming. (JR)

‘A rainy winter built up soil water reserves while a hot March led to early budbreak and flowering (2 weeks ahead). Temperatures continued to rise throughout the summer, leading to extreme heat in August. A good rainfall in July kept the vines evolving and re-invigorating late summer showers (from 16 August) brought cooler nights, and aided the final ripening phase. September saw a return to warm vs hot temperatures, and the fruit was harvested early, with ideal conditions in September.’ Harvest: 15 September – 25 September. 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot. 18 months in new French oak. Bruno Borie added that they were going to start leaf thinning in June but held back when the saw how hot it was, and the danger of sunburn. Browning garnet. Mature undergrowth is prominent here. Dusty and black-olive aroma. Firm, thick tannins in the mouth even if they are now smoothed. A bit abrupt on the finish and not much freshness. A tannic block in the mouth without enough freshness for balance. (JH)