Request for comments on Chapoutier La Bernardine CdP '03

[Jay Labrador]

If anyone has notes on this wine I would be grateful for any comments. Thanks in advance.

[Jenise]

Jay, just to clarify--you've had the Bernardine in the past and are favorable about the wine, you're just wondering about the 03 vintage? I haven't had the 03 so can't help, but I've been a fan of several past vintages.

[Sam Platt]

No personal experience, but I did find a brief note posted here:

http://www.mchapoutieraustralia.com/gb/ ... g_2003.htm

[Jay Labrador]

Hi Jenise,

I had an 80-something vintage of this wine over ten years ago but can't remember anything about it. I have the opportunity to get some of the '03 hence this request. I've had some southern Rhone '03s mostly Cotes du Rhone and one Chateauneuf and have generally liked the wines.

[Jenise]

The Bernardine is 100% grenache, I believe, and we've had 95, 96 and 98. The first two aged more like Burgundies, where the riper 98 (more similar to 03) turned big and leathery and is drinking splendidly right now. If you've liked other 03's, this is surely a good bet.

[Doug Surplus]

Hmm, I have an '00 of this wine. Maybe I should crack it open in the interest of science. Or would a 2000 need more time?

[Jenise]

Doug, my generalized experience with Bernardines specifically and 00's in general is that Bernardines can sleep intermittently, but that 00 southern Rhones are drinking fairly well right now. It seems to be a riper vintage, more like 98 than 99 or 01, which in my experience were more structured. But I could be all wrong--that's my limited experience talking, not academic knowledge of what actually happened. If you drink that one, do you have a backup for 07-08?