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2003 Primum Familiae Vini Vintage Reports,

Part of the fascination that the world of wine offers is that there is no two years that are similar. 2003 will long be remembered. Below is a global overview of the Primum Familiae Vini Members’ 2003 vintage reports for each of their regions:

France

Château Mouton Rothschild – Pauillac (Bordeaux)
The weather in 2003 was cold in the first two months of the year, then hot or very hot until the harvest. A heatwave in August saw temperatures rise to over 30° on 18 days and over 40° on 2 days. Rainfall was 35% lower than the 40-year average but very slightly higher than in 2002. However, the vines did not greatly suffer from the drought. The vegetation cycle was 7 days ahead of the average at budbreak and 10 days at mid-flowering. Harvesting took place between 15 and 25 September. A high quality crop in perfect condition holds out hopes for a very fine vintage.

Pol Roger – Epernay (Champagne)
"The extremely unusual climatic conditions prevailing in France in 2003 contributed to a particularly atypical harvest.
Spring frosts in the early days of April followed by hailstorms caused a lot of damages. Flowering started sooner than usual and was completed around June 8th. From then on through June, July and August temperatures went up to record heights with a very exceptional heat wave in August.
85 days separated flowering from grape picking which started in some parts of Champagne as soon as 21 August! This had apparently not ben seen since 1893. But unfortunately, if the size of the crop was near to normal for the pinot meunier grape, it was well below our expectations for the pinot noir grape and even more for the chardonnay.
All together, it seems that we were some 25% short. The potential alcohol content in the grapes was above 10.5 and the level of acidity a bit low.
We have already tasted all vins clairs at Pol Roger and we are confident that we should produce an excellent brut reserve".
Patrice NOYELLE

Joseph Drouhin – Beaune (Burgundy)
After an early spring, a few vines were hit by frost or hail. It was the extreme heat and very dry conditions that caused the total lack of diseases in the vineyards and one of the smallest crop on record: 30% to 40% less on average. The beginning of the picking was particularly early, August 13 in Beaujolais, August 19 in Côte d'Or and August 25 in Chablis. Dates like these have not been seen in more than 150 years!
Regarding the Drouhin estate, we started picking on Wednesday August 20 and finished on Tuesday September 9. This proves that we were in no hurry and were able to leisurely select the best time for picking, considering the overall maturity, sugar content, acidity, phenolic compounds and, more importantly, the actual taste of the grapes.
The red wines have a pretty colour which remained stable throughout the fermentation. It is a beautiful, intense red. The aromas are reminiscent of blackberries or black cherries; they are full of charm. On the palate, the wines are fleshy, warm and round. Their tannic structure is quite seductive. For the whites, from Macon to Chablis, all wines offer the same characteristics: floral, soft, gras, full of charm. This was a year of extremes and superlatives. Anyone with even the greatest personal experience had to be baffled since there is no one that saw the 1822 or 1893 still around!

Paul Jaboulet Ainé – Tain l’Hermitage (Rhone Valley)
In June, the vines were already many weeks ahead of normal. With the hot weather in July, we planned to start the harvest on the 8th September which would have been a week earlier than in 2002.
Because of the exceptionally hot weather in August, we started on Tuesday 26th August. Louis Jaboulet – (the father of Jacques and the late Gerard) who is 91 years old – who has seen every vintage since 1930, says that only the 1947 vintage has been picked earlier during his lifetime.
The grapes have suffered from the exceptional heat and a number of them are shrivelled because of the loss of water. The yield will be around half of the permitted volume. The potential alcohol content will be high approximately 14 degrees and the juice is very concentrated. We normally need 130 kilos of grapes to produce 1 Hecto (11 c/s 12/1 bottles) of juice. This year, the figure will be nearer to 160 Hectos. Apart from some damage from the heat, the grapes – both red and white – are in good condition. Even those damaged by hail at the end of July have healed and are not affected by grey rot or acid rot.
On Thursday 28th August bad weather was forecast. A wind from the South brought a very spectacular electrical storm with violent and constant lightening. There was heavy rain and some hail which fortunately did not touch the Hermitage or Crozes Hermitage appellations. We, now, have a mistral which will dry the grapes and vines. The rain which is too late to help the grapes was welcome to stabilise the soils on the hill of Hermitage which, because of the drought, had become very dry and unstable, making the job of the pickers even more difficult.

Hugel & fils – Riquewihr (Alsace)
"Having overseen 56 vintages - my first was 1948 - I know that every vintage is different. Some are very unusual and 2003 will be one of these. Starting on 8th September is three and a half weeks earlier than normal and 10 days ahead of the 1976 vintage. One has to go back to 1893 to find such an early start. It is certainly one of the driest and hottest summers ever and conditions remind me of 1947. The wines will have a high alcoholic content, probably quite a bit of richness but the biggest problem will be low levels of acidity. In 1959, another very hot year, we made a Gewurztraminer VT which ended-up with only 3.5 gr/l of total acidity (expressed in tartaric) - which everybody said would not keep. It is still excellent today after 44 years ! One thing is certain, 2003 will be a vintage that will be much talked about and remembered for many years to come."
Jean HUGEL
Riesling may have suffered most from these extreme weather conditions while Pinot Noirs have a depth, a colour and a density hardly ever seen before. Overall, the wines may well be early maturing but with great extract.

Germany

Egon Muller Scharzhof –Saar
With the exception of a short very wet spell around New Year, the winter of 2002/3 was rather dry and warmer than average. The vegetation started very early and frost around the 10th of April already did some damage to the vineyards at the bottom of the Scharzhofberg hill. After that however it was warmer and drier than average until the end of September.
The vines first thrived under warm and dry conditions and it was difficult to keep up with the growth, as during May and June we had to do the work that is normally done in 3 month’ time. The flowering came extremely early and by the end of June the vegetation had an advance of about 3 weeks over normal years. In July the growth slowed as water became scarce but the vineyards remained in great shape. I found the first signs of veraison in July, a date comparable only to years like 1947, 1959 or 1976. In August the temperatures soared to 40°C for several days. The combination of lack of water and excessive heat caused sunburn to the grapes, especially in the steeper vineyards with shallow soils. In our vineyards the damage ranged from 10 – 30%. Sometimes whole clusters were burnt but mostly only the part of the grape directly exposed to the sun. Luckily the excessive temperatures dropped to more normal levels after the 10th August and the grapes ripened quickly. In September the sugar levels were higher than in any previous vintage. On September 22nd we had 30 mm of rain and from that point, the sugar levels rose only slowly.
The rain however brought the onset of Botrytis and our harvest began on September 29th with the making of a Trockenbeerenauslese. This was not only the earliest harvest date ever at Scharzhof but the must also had the highest sugar concentration ever achieved in our estate. During the first week of October we had some rain but from October 13th the weather was beautiful: sunny skies and a strong easterly wind dried the grapes and from October 16th we were back to picking Trockenbeerenauslese. Under the prevailing dry conditions, the Botrytis did not spread and while few berries were affected, the noble rot was extremely well defined and of superb quality.
I had been doubtful about the early harvest but after the 20th October the grapes showed definite signs of over ripeness and the acidity was lower than usually but did not drop further during our harvest. The proportion of tartaric acid was very high and when the weather forecast announced frost for the weekend of the 26th October we sped up our harvest in fear of it further reducing acidity levels by precipitating tartrate in the berries. We brought the last grapes in on 27th October, again a record-breaking early date.
The yields were very low. No vineyard surpassed 40 hl/ha and in some instances we only had 20 hl/ha, averaging less than 30 hl/ha. The high ripeness levels will once again demonstrate the ineffectiveness of wine classification by sugar levels: According to the wine law our entire harvest would fall into the Auslese or higher categories. As is our standard, the ripe grapes from Wiltinger braune Kupp and Scharzhofberg will produce Kabinett while the overripe grapes will be Spätlese. Judging by the aspect of the grapes at harvest we reckon that the ratio might be 2/3 to 1/3. There will be little Auslese as there was little noble rot and there will be very little “Scharzhof Riesling” as we will probably have to rely on the grapes from Saarburg and Wawern only. Overall this looks like a great vintage but the proof will be in the wines.

Italy

Antinori – Firenze (Tuscany)
After a rainy and fairly cold autumn and winter, spring and summer 2003 will certainly be remembered as among the hottest and driest in recent years. Thanks to the dry, mild weather in spring, budding was promising and slightly earlier than average for all varieties and the conditions were subsequently excellent for flowering and fruit setting.
From June onwards throughout the summer the weather conditions were unusual with very high temperatures and absolutely no rain. As a consequence, the grapes ripened early and immediately after 15th August the earliest ripening varieties showed very high sugar levels, due to a sort of natural auto-concentration. Production quantities were slightly lower due to the lack of water, especially where emergency watering was not possible. This trend continued steadily during the harvesting period, allowing us to wait for the best moment to pick the fruit, thus avoiding risks of damage to the grapes.
In our Chianti Classico estates, the harvest ended in early October, about two weeks earlier than usual. The last varieties to be harvested were the Cabernet and Sangiovese, whose grapes were in excellent condition at the time of picking. The wines promise very well for the future, with excellent vibrant colours and good solid tannins.

Spain

Torres – Spain, Vilafranca del Penedes (Catalunya)
“A harvest that promised to be early and has turned out to be almost ... late”
Miguel A. Torres
In the middle of September, the outlook for the 2003 wine harvest has undergone a very significant change.
In effect, earlier in the year a very rainy spring was followed by an abnormally hot spell from the end of June, through July and August. Fortunately the vines, in general, found a fair amount of reserve water in the soil and were able to resist this hydric stress quite well. Only on some soils of great quality, with excellent drainage, did we suffer the occasional loss due to over-ripening of the grapes, especially in some Chardonnays and some Garnachas and Merlots.
We anxiously awaited a week of rain at the beginning of August, which would have been very good for marking the end of the vegetation period and starting the ripening of the grapes. However, the rains did not arrive until 16th August, when we had already started harvesting the Moscatel a few days earlier. These late rains had a harmful effect on some varieties and in some soil situations, but in general they were very useful in most cases. Afterwards, in early September, we had very intense rainfall on several days, the famous gota fría (rainy cold spell) that unfortunately appears most years. However, tolerance to these showers was quite good, as the skin of the grapes had recovered a certain amount of elasticity after the moderate rains of 16th August, which were fairly generalised all around Catalonia. We only had a couple of cases where the grapes swelled out of proportion and even burst: in some of the Syrah vineyards and also in some Chardonnays.
From 6th September splendid sunshine has dominated in all our vineyards in Catalonia (1,700 ha). In addition, the arrival of very strong winds from the North helped to dry out the grapes and the soils, as well as to eliminate any possible focus of Botrytis. Temperatures are hot during the day but very cold at night reaching thermal differences of up to 25ºC in the vineyards of the Tremp area.
The general impression of all our experts is that the 2003 harvest, with a few small exceptions, may turn out to be a very excellent vintage.
Our Pacs Winery has increased its red wine production capacity by 20% this year with the incorporation of a battery of horizontal rotating tanks. At the same time, building work is at an advanced stage on the new Winery for the “estate” wines. A little marvel that our visitors will be able to discover from July of next year.

Vega Sicilia – Valbuena de Duero (Castilla y Leon)
Budding began halfway through April without there being any of the spring frosts that are so common in this high-risk Designation of Origin area. The growing cycle took place without any great difficulty but each stage (flowering, setting, veraison…) arrived early as a result of the high temperatures, which was a generalised phenomenon in European vineyards. Winter rainfall was unusually heavy, which meant that there was no water stress, despite the high temperatures during the growing cycle of the vine.
The green pruning, most of which was carried out after flowering and completed during the veraison, resulted in approximately 30% of the production. Together with the abovementioned climatic factors, this work led to the grapes ripening on 16th September in Alion and on 20th of the same month in Vega Sicilia.
For the Tinto Fino variety, the harvest was exceptionally quick due to the homogeneity of the ripening of the grapes, taking 6 days in Vega Sicilia and 14 days in Alion. The latter took longer due to the large amount of grapes processed. The Cabernet Sauvignon harvest began on 13th October and ended on 15th of the same month.
Pending reservations at the end of the malolactic fermentation, the wines are full-bodied and well balanced; in our opinion, it is a great vintage. Its peculiarity lies in its low, but in no way dramatic, acidity.
To conclude, 2003 is a vintage characterised by its early ripening and a perfectly completed growing cycle, which has led to wines that are ideally suited to ageing in the cask.

Portugal

The Symington Family Port Companies – Vila Nova de Gaia (Oporto and Douro)
After a very wet winter (the rainfall in January reaching record levels), budding and fruit set took place under ideal dry conditions, early indications suggesting an above average crop. A very hot and dry spell in August was followed by some welcome rain at the end of the month, allowing the fruit to complete its ripening under perfect conditions. The Vintage starting date was 15th September at our Upper Douro Quintas, with the main wineries opening on the 18th. The weather during the Vintage proved to be excellent, and with grapes coming in at quite high temperatures, cooling equipment needed to be employed at all the wineries. Baume readings across the Douro were generally higher than average, with graduations on the late ripening Touriga Francesa in particular reaching an unusually high 13.5 baume. With the last fermentations being run off over the weekend of October 4th, early indications from the colour and aromas of the musts are that we have made some really superb wines in 2003.

The United States

Robert Mondavi – Napa Valley (California)
The last gondola of grapes rolled into Robert Mondavi Winery on November 3, marking the end of the long 2003 harvest. From its beginning on August 28, this year’s harvest was characterized by perfect ripening conditions punctuated by nail-biting weather extremes.
“The weather in August and early September yielded exceptional quality in Sauvignon Blanc,” said Genevieve Janssens. “This is our first variety to ripen, and the grapes began reaching maturity about a week later than the historical average. This year is an outstanding vintage for Sauvignon Blanc, with lovely aromatics, flavors and balance.”
“Merlot is also a shining star in the 2003 vintage,” Janssens continued. “Great color, ripe flavors, fleshy body, good middle palate and depth…the wines have it all.” Merlot was far enough along in maturity before the hot weather hit that it was not adversely affected.
Pinot Noir, known as the most temperamental of grapes, also experienced the most vicissitudes in weather during its critical ripening period. Heat and low humidity during the second half of September caused some dehydration of Pinot Noir, requiring scrupulous cluster selection in the vineyard and lots of attention in the winery.
“Chardonnay quality this year looks promising,” continued Rich Arnold. “The fear of rot from two brief rainstorms proved unwarranted, partially due to the smaller, loose clusters that were typical of the vintage. The small crop, with small berry size, had good flavor concentration and balance. An oddity of the vintage—and every year has a few—was that native yeast fermentations were inclined to “stick” (not ferment dry), so we used cultured yeast on the majority of vineyard lots. The Chardonnay harvest was prolonged because the fruit achieved flavor and sugar maturity slowly, yet the results were well worth the wait. We finished harvesting Chardonnay on October 20.”
Cabernet Sauvignon had long hang-times on the vine due to very cold nights, resulting in prolonged ripening. We had wide diurnal temperature swings, with warm days (occasionally pushing triple digits, even in October) and nights dropping into the 30°s and 40°s. Associate Winemaker Richard Sowalsky reports that the erratic nature of the weather has had unpredictable influences on the vines. The cool, wet spring certainly contributed to the higher crop level and higher vigor, while early heat spikes drove sugar maturity ahead of phenolic and flavor ripeness. The cooler weather that followed permitted the hang-times needed to fully ripen the fruit, and the majority of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were harvested during the "Indian summer" towards the end of October. At this stage, the wines have excellent color, although the overall structure of the vintage is difficult to determine at the present. The wines, in their separate vineyard lots, are still either completing fermentation or extended maceration. As in the past, success will hinge on careful lot selection at blending.


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