Not exactly a tasting note, but thought I'd cut/paste the following post I made in "what are you drinking":


Tasted single blind to me, double blind to my girlfriend and her mom:

2002 Ramey Jericho Canyon
2003 Seavey
2003 Pavie

Thought this would be an interesting exercise... and it was. The Seavey showed very well, much more open, fruity and drinkable than a typical young Seavey -- a very, very nice wine already quite pleasurable. The Ramey was solid as usual, always nice to drink.

As for the '03 Pavie, I must say the "controversy" over whether this smells or tastes like bordeaux is totally absurd -- it screams bordeaux (okay, maybe modern, right bank bordeaux) from the first whiff. All three of us instantly nailed this as a bordeaux (again, blind for me and double blind for the other two tasters who only knew we were drinking red wine; I did not offer my views until after they'd both smelled and tasted all three wines and formed their opinions). No question, we were all absolutely certain of this on the first sniff and again on our first sip. The more interesting questions are: (i) is it a great (or potentially great) wine, and (ii) how does it compare to other recent vintages of Pavie? Parker's notes compare it to '00 Pavie ("[t]he 2003 Pavie ... is closest in style to the 2000, but slightly more evolved and exotic"), while I found it much closer to the '98 and '99. It doesn't at this point have quite the intensity or richness of the '00, and to my palate I didn't find the '03 "exotic" in any pronounced way. Nor, as some critics have claimed, is it over-the-top, pruney or raisiny. I think it will take 6-8 years to integrate and come into focus and for the tannins to mellow a bit, at which time I think it will be a terrific wine, as good or slightly better than the '98 and '99 but probably not achieving the same level of greatness as the '00.
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Anyone else tried the '03?

Edit -- Day two on the '03: I semi-retract my "not exotic" remark. It's now drinking like a slightly more exotic version of the '99. This will be a fantastic wine in 6-8 yrs.