Wine 2012

Our view on the 2012 vintage

In Bordeaux, the 2012 harvest started quite early, and the rains from April to July were highly beneficial. The good weather then came back in August and September: as a result, the ripeness was heterogeneous in the vienyards. At the cost of a severe grape sorting, the harvest went well and the Merlot wines have been advantaged (wines of the Right Bank of Saint Emilion or Pomerol designation). The style of the 2012 red wines in Bordeaux is balanced and more about finesse than power. Regarding the white Bordeaux in 2012, we can note some great successes in Pessac Leognan who produced very good wines. In Sauternes, unfortunately, 2012 was not that a good year and Yquem decided not to produce its great wine. In 2012 Burgundy wines, the year was marked by capricious weather and some vineyards on the Cote de Beaune were hardly hit by hail. The yields have sometimes been strongly affected. The grapes that were not harvested (because of unripeness) before September 25 were less likely to ripen afterwards, which explains the disparity between the best Burgundy vintages (famous Grands Crus and 1er Crus) and the rest of the designations in cooler climats. Consequently, 2012 red Burgundy are better on the Cote de Nuit (spared by hail) and on the best 1er crus and Grands Crus plots of Burgundy than elsewhere. In Cote de Beaune, the Corton hill offers good wines and Meursault has produced pretty white wines but in reduced volumes. In Champagne, 2012 is a very good year and according to the bigger producers, there should be beautiful Champagne bottles. In Rhone wines, the vintage was rather late, and if some 2012 red wines can sometimes show some aromas linked to unripen berries in the Northern Rhone valley, the big usual producers produced beautiful bottles. In the Southern Rhone, Chateauneuf du Pape 2012 offers very interesting wines of rather good aging potential. In Alsace, the 2012 vintage is dominated by dry wines made from Pinot Gris, the Riesling having had to delay and extend their harvest (between 2 showers) to finally obtain good maturity. In the Loire Valley, the 2012 vintage is also marked by capricious summer weather, but in Sancerre as in Muscadet, the winemakers have managed to produce very good wines.