2003 Leonetti Walla Walla Reserve
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Tasting notes
The 2003 Red Wine Reserve is dark and brooding, with suggestions of fig, ashen stones and crushed fall leaves lifted by a mint hint. Silky and pliant, the 2003 splashes across the palate with citrus-tinged red and black fruits as nervous acidity tugs at the cheeks. The 2003 finishes with adolescent tannins and balsamic spice, still a bit edgy yet firmly in its drinking window. This has begun a slow decline, yet it is still perfectly enjoyable today.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Pierre Rovani
More reviews and scores
(cabernet sauvignon with 16% merlot and 13% petit verdot, all estate fruit; aged in 70% new French oak) Good deep, bright ruby. Superripe aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, roast coffee, bitter chocolate and sexy oak. Rich, dense and sappy, with lovely verve to the sweet, intense dark fruit flavors. Wonderfully horizontal wine, saturating the palate with fruit on the dense, very long finish. This already offers great appeal but I'd give it some time to develop. The pH here, says Figgins, is 3.7, which is quite healthy in the context of this vintage.
Mouth-watering quantities of black raspberries and cassis liqueur are found in the nose of the stunning 2003 Reserve. A huge, immensely deep wine of intense concentration, it coats the palate with waves of dark raspberries and super-ripe black currants whose flavors linger in its exceptionally long finish. This decadent behemoth is magnificent to taste now and will be sumptuous over the next 15+ years. Tel. (509) 525-1428; www.leonetticellar.com