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Château du Tetre 2003

Have you ever heard of the Fratellis?  I bought their new album, Costello Music, recently and I was not impressed.  I may be showing my age here, but I have heard it all before.  One track sounded like Status Quo, the next was reminiscent of The Clash and the next could have been (maybe was???) written by Ray Davies.  One hit wonders, if ever I made such a prediction.

So why did I buy it?  Because I heard someone on BBC Radio 2 mention it as the latest thing.  And this is broadly the same reason I bought 2003 Bordeaux en primeur.

You just never know what you are going to get.  You listen to the commentators and you wonder if you will ever be able to buy such a great vintage, or if you will be investing in a dud whose price will drop off the end of a cliff.

My usual quick Google search could not produce a seller in the UK offering this wine but that could well be because it is still young (in English or American terms).  However, what’s wrong with drinking young claret?

I decided to decant this wine and to drink at the recommended temperature of 16-18 degrees Celsius.

Château du Tetre 2003…and a Mango Wood Vase (for some reason) 

The flavours were, like any good Margaux, complex, exciting and long lasting.  More vegetable than fruit, unlike many Margaux I have tried.  The overwhelming taste from the smell of the cork to the taste once aired, was of cooked beetroot and a hint of dark chocolate.  Not as dodgy as that sounds but actually gorgeous and went perfectly with a bloody, rare, rump steak.

I do think this wine has a few years to mature but I am happy to drink it now because…. er…. it tastes very nice.  I don’t yet know whether I was wise to but it en primeur.  I think it cost me about £25 a bottle all in.  Time will yet tell if I wasted my money.

If you spot it for sale let me know.  And if you see the Fratellis, tell them I’m old and my views don’t count.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 9:38 pm and is filed under bordeaux. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Château du Tetre 2003”

  1. Jacqui Freeman Says:
    April 4th, 2007 at 5:06 pm

    I suggest that you pay no attention to Radio 2, buy a DAB digital radio and tune into something a bit more happening like XFM, then you won’t be tempted to waste good wine money on tosh like the Fratellis.

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