Le Boscq Saint Estephe 2003 - The Co-op

This one may have shut down a little, so I would stick it away in the cellar for a few years yet. However, for me it remains one of the benchmarks for 2003 Cru Bourgeois St Estephe, which in turn is a key hotspot for (relatively) inexpensive but potentially great Bordeaux.

This is an exotic, delicate and complex style of St Estephe. Only basic impressions noted whilst tasting, so just an assessment here rather than an in-depth note.

Drunk recently, I have really preferred this to Ormes de Pez 2003 and Haut Marbuzet 2003. All of these need time, so I'm not going to predict who will win the race. But right now I would prefer this, and right now I can see more potential in this - a unique personality.

At least today, this is not going to be a crowd-pleaser. It certainly needs food and air. But a serious wine. Recommended if you know what you're signing up for.

Important: Be careful if you simply want a crowd-pleasing glugger to drink tonight and you don't understand young Bordeaux. It's a nice wine but might not float your boat if you don't know what to expect....experiment by all means, but if you do open it tonight (or over the next year or two) then give it a couple of hours of air. And remember it needs food...

As an aside, hilariously, I opened yet another of my 12 bottles of Branson's supposedly giant-killing 'Calcanio' on the same evening (which retails for a tenner I remind you...) Now Le Boscq may be a fiver more, but this is truly like comparing a racehorse to a donkey - and relatively speaking, in this company, Branson's donkey is even more deceased than the Monty Python parrot. Le Boscq '03 is so far ahead of the game here that, faced with the side-by-side evidence, I'm surprised Virgin even have the gall to label their Calcanio shite as wine. Their marketing department should be shot. And as I got lumbered with twelve bottles of this Calcanio crap, I think I'm allowed to vent...

I've said it before, I'll say it again. The wine-buying team at the Co-op are on fire.

Le Boscq Saint Estephe 2003. A great wine. 9/10 The Co-op £14.99