2003

2003 has been hailed as a very good year for Bordeaux, but that itself is not without controversy. I also chose 2003 because it was a bad year for many parts of France and Europe, so whilst the combination of sun, rain etc might have worked for Bordeaux, it was disastrous for other places. For us in Hong Kong, 2003 will chiefly be remembered as the SARS year, but the Europeans will remember the long heat wave which caused many deaths. Taking Bordeaux first, the controversy lies in the fact that the climatic conditions gave rise to grapes which were unusually ripe even for bumper years in Bordeaux. This together with the popularity (and marketability) of the Parker style meant that some properties actually made Parkerised clarets; popular with the international market but not so warmly welcomed by the British critics.

Away from Bordeaux, which tended to be ordinarily less blessed with sunshine, places which have abundant sun had their grapes scorched. There was a drought in certain other parts causing the vines to wither. I remember being shown a picture of Rhinegau vineyards by Fritz Hasselbach of Gunderloch. They had lobbied for the law to be amended to allow irrigation in such unusual weather and it was done. They opted for irrigation which their neighbours did not, resulting in their vineyards remaining green in a sea of yellow at the height of summer. So 2003 was a good but controversial year for Bordeaux but rather disastrous for the rest of Europe.