Vintage 2003
Europe's heat year · Greece on the margins · whites lost in the lowlands
Nationwide 6.0 out of 10 · Confidence of rating: medium
Macedonia
Naoussa · PDO – Red 6.5 · White 5.5 (Confidence: medium)
Central Greece
Attika · PGI – Red 6.5 · White 4.5 (Confidence: medium)
Peloponnese
Nemea · PDO – Red 6.0 · White 5.0 (Confidence: medium)
Mantinia · PDO – Red 5.5 · White 6.0 (Confidence: medium)
Cyclades
Santorini · PDO – Red 6.5 · White 7.5 (Confidence: medium)
Crete
Kreta · PGI – Red 5.5 · White 5.0 (Confidence: low)
Peloponnese outside of Nemea and Mantinia 6.0 (as an overall value without separation by colour)
2003 was Europe's year of the heatwave of the century, the hottest summer since at least 1540. Its core zone, however, lay in the west – France, Iberia, Italy. Greece lies east of it and got off more lightly than the vintage's reputation would suggest.
What remained was nevertheless a hot, dry summer with high evaporation, and it split the country by altitude and colour. In Attika, two points separate red and white – the largest gap on this page, and it points in the direction that this year dictated everywhere.
Where the heat hit – Nemea, Attika, the warm lowlands
The Peloponnese around Nemea and the warm lowlands of central Greece took the full force of the heat and drought stress: accelerated ripening, dehydrated berries, an early harvest. For the reds, that meant picking early – with the risk of missing phenolic ripeness before physiological ripeness had arrived. What came too late turned overripe, raisined and jammy.
For the white varieties of the lowlands, it was simply a bad year. Savatiano in Attika and Roditis around Patras lost acidity, gained alcohol and forfeited their aromatics. Picking very early or at night was a necessity, not a choice – the 4.5 for the Attika white is the lowest value on this page.
Where altitude and the sea helped – Santorini 7.5 in white
On Santorini, the island setting moderated the heat to such an extent that the vintage does not even appear in the lists of extreme Aegean heat years. It was hot, dry and windy, but ripening remained measured, and the Assyrtiko turned out fresh and long-lived. The same principle carried the Moschofilero in Mantinia and the Debina in Zitsa, both at six hundred to seven hundred metres.
Naoussa – red 6.5
The north experienced a different year from the one on television. Until high summer it was relatively dry and cool there, with decent rainfall; the grapes stayed healthy, and a late harvest was possible. The highlands of Amyndeon at around seven hundred metres additionally had the cool nights.
For the acid-driven Xinomavro, however, warm years wash out the classic profile. The value therefore sits half a point above the national average, not higher.
Our wines
We tasted two Greek wines from 2003, both red, both from Crete, both from Kotsifali and Mandilaria: the Kritikos from Boutari with 84 and a Michalakis with 75 points. The median of 79.5 is the lowest of all our vintage pages.
Two bottles from one stretch of land carry no verdict on a year. But they point in the same direction as this vintage's Cretan value – a rarity among old vintages.
All tasting notes from 2003
· Boutari Kritikos · 84
· Michalakis Michalakis · 75
Vintage 2002 · 2003 · Vintage 2004 | All vintages