Cuvée du Vatican Chateauneuf du Pape 2003

Phil Downes reviewed this wine as follows:

I have the 2000.
November 19, 2015 - Dark red color. Decanted and then drank from decanter over 2.5hrs. Well, i thoroughly enamored by this wine tonight. Started off with a Giordano's pizza we made at home and wanted to have something nice with it and this really fit the bill. What a delightful nose starting off again with a nice burst of cedar and spice, garrigue, and then giving way to blueberry fruits and eventually a striking cassis note with briar, and then raspberry and earth. The palate is medium bodied with lovely tannins that have a fine grain character with good intensity, a complex mix of fruit, blueberry, cassis, black cherry, earthy, garrigue, hints of smoke, briar, wood spice, and a long fresh finish. Drinking beautifully now, this shows no indication of slowing down.

Comment
LA CAVE D'ARGENT LIKES THIS WINE:
(93 points)
November 13, 2015 - Last tasted nearly five years ago, this wine has now fully hit its stride. From a bottle purchased upon release and cellared in pristine fashion, it was decanted off of its sediment and serially tasted over a period of 2-3 hours. Deep garnet in color, it requires less than 30 minutes in decanter to unlease a bouquet of lavender, bramble fruits, sous bois, coriander and saddle leather. Medium-bodied, freshly acidic and with soft residual tannins, it delivers flavors mirroring the nose and shows no heat from its reported 14% alcohol. With impressive mid-palate density and a lengthy finish, this fully mature Châteauneuf is nothing but a joy to drink. I had previously greatly underestimated its potential. Well-cellared bottles should provide pleasure through the remainder of this decade. Drink now-2020.

Comments (2)
CHINACAT WROTE:
(91 points)
October 30, 2015 - Dark red color and not too cloudy. Some garrique on the nose. Medium weight, red fruits, some earthiness and bright acidity, and bit of a finishing grip. Still in a good spot and should have several more years there.

Comment
HODBY WROTE:
(89 points)
April 19, 2015 - Dark red color. Strongly fruited nose of cranberry and dried Montmorency cherry; some garrigue. On arrival, medium-low tannin and low acidity; a lookalike to many ripe, inexpensive and easy drinking New World bodied GMS blends. Grape-y, juicy and showing a bit more oak in the mouth than I like in CdP, there's nothing wrong here except the original (high) price. Bottle #2 of two.

Comment
ROCKNROLLER WROTE:
(93 points)
February 15, 2015 - Monthly Tasting Group: CDP's and Southern Rhones (Meritage, St. Paul): Very dark red/purple color. Double decanted for 30 minutes. Drank 1 glass over 2 hours. The nose starts with a burst of cedarbox that completely blows off within minutes, and then opens to a lovely raspberry, raspberry liqueur character with dried earth and dried flowers. The palate is full bodied and deep, layered with red fruits raspberry and cherry, pretty earth and a nice medium plus finish. Still youthful and full of energy. I'll try to wait another 2-3 years before cracking the next one. 92 to 93pts.

Gabriel Israel rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Beautiful! Ready to drink.
After almost 2 hours, magic happens - besides the dried dark fruit, leather and caramel notes, you get chocolate. It adds weight to a wonderful full body, low acidity, smooth and extremely satisfying CdP with a long long finish. Loved it.