Vinous (91-93)

The 2012 Charmes-Chambertin is all about texture. A round, sensual Burgundy, the 2012 flows across the palate with gorgeous resonance and sensuality. Dark red stone fruits, wild flowers, spices and a hint of citrus ring out on the generous finish. Today, it looks like the 2012 will offer a long drinking window beginning pretty much upon release.

Vinous (93-96)

The 2012 Corton Clos du Roi is a model of delicacy and finesse. Dark raspberries, wild flowers and savory herbs all meld together gracefully in a wine that is all about transparency, nuance and detail. Texture and a total sense of polish are some of the signatures that are impossible to miss. Dried herbs, crushed flowers and anise are all woven together nicely through to the finish.

Wine Advocate (95)

Showing even better from bottle than barrel, the 2012 Côte Rôtie La Landonne is a fabulous effort that oozes notions of cassis, black raspberry, violet, incense and spice-box. Medium to full-bodied, with a gorgeous mid-palate and building, fine tannin, enjoy this ripe, layered, textured beauty over the coming 10-15 years. Made from 100% Syrah aged in new barrels, it’s gorgeous.

Vinous (92)

Deep ruby. Pungent dark berry and cherry pit aromas are complemented by candied violet, mocha and black pepper. Fleshy and expansive on the palate, offering sweet, spice-tinged black and blue fruit flavors that put on weight and become more spicy with air. Open-knit, pure and seamless in texture, finishing with superb punch and velvety tannins that add grip.

Wine Advocate (95)

Just a small step back from the Les Bessards, the 2012 Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes is a stunning effort that exhibits blockbuster notes of toasted spice, leather, peppery herbs and sweet black and blue fruit. Seeing 16 months in 60% new French oak, it's a powerful, concentrated and full-bodied effort that has lots of tannin, but more than enough fruit to handle it. Like the Les Bessards, shorter-term cellaring is advised here and it will have over two decades of longevity.

Wine Advocate (97)

The star of the show is the 2012 Hermitage Les Bessards. Coming from the pure granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit, on the western edge of the appellation, it’s made from 100% Syrah and spent 16 months in 70% new French oak. It’s an incredible wine that offers classic powdered rock-like minerality, loads of crème de cassis and black raspberry fruit, smoked meats, spice and dried-flower nuances. Complex, pure and perfumed, it’s full-bodied and seamless on the palate, with fabulous density, ultra-fine tannin structure and impeccable overall balance. Give it 3-4 years in the cellar and drink it over the following two decades.

Vinous (90-92)

Bright purple. Mineral-laced aromas of dark berries, cola and fresh flowers, with a peppery overtone. Lively and precise on the palate, offering bitter berry skin and spicecake flavors that put on weight with air. Closes silky and long, with firm tannins and spicy snap.

Jancis Robinson (18)

Mid depth of crimson. Immediately much nervier and more savoury than the Corton just before it. Open and transparent with great savour and just a hint of milky coffee. But chiefly this is muscular and racy. Great energy and surprisingly open. It would be dangerously easy to drink it already. Presumably it will close up…? Not much change after 45 minutes though the energy is still impressive.

Vinous (97)

Bright, dark red. Spellbinding perfume combines red berries, cherry, Oriental spices, rose petal, licorice, pepper and minerals. Perfectly balanced from the outset, showing outstanding clarity and lift, not to mention superb sappy depth, to its multifaceted red fruit, mineral, spice and floral flavors. The combination of sweetness and grip is extraordinary, as is the wine's expanding, mounting aftertaste. Will this beauty ever go into a truly sullen stage? Probably.

Wine Advocate (97)

The Richebourg 2012 was picked September 27-28 at just 19 hectoliters per hectare, one of the lowest yields in this vintage. This has a serious bouquet, reserved at first, more earth than air. Unusual for this cuvee, there is a sense of exoticism here, a Richebourg daring to show a bit of ankle. Blackberry pastille intermingle with wilted violets, and there is a touch of warmth that belies the precocity of the growing season. Leaving it aside for 10 minutes, there are hints of Provençal herbs, broom and even fennel. The palate is medium-bodied and the first thing that strikes you is its backbone. Well, this is Richebourg after all. But there is an arching structure to this wine that is disguised by the silkiness of its texture, plus an almost citrus freshness and brightness on the finish. This is a Richebourg that will make you giddy with pleasure. 634 cases produced.

Wine Advocate (99)

Usually, choosing between La Tâche and Romanée-Conti is like choosing between your two favourite children. Not this year. The 2012 Romanée-Conti is one of the most spellbinding that I have tasted since I began 17 years ago. The bouquet is quite astonishing with brilliant delineation and focus, an almost disorientating sense of mineralité that soars from the glass and leaves you speechless. The palate is perfectly proportioned with a sensational line of acidity, brimming over with energy and frisson. This flirts with perfection and you know, one day it might actually achieve it. Just 350 cases produced.

Wine Advocate (99)

Usually, choosing between La Tâche and Romanée-Conti is like choosing between your two favourite children. Not this year. The 2012 Romanée-Conti is one of the most spellbinding that I have tasted since I began 17 years ago. The bouquet is quite astonishing with brilliant delineation and focus, an almost disorientating sense of mineralité that soars from the glass and leaves you speechless. The palate is perfectly proportioned with a sensational line of acidity, brimming over with energy and frisson. This flirts with perfection and you know, one day it might actually achieve it. Just 350 cases produced.

Vinous (97)

An intense, almost exotic wine, the 2012 Romanée St.-Vivant takes the elements that make RSV such a distinctive site and simply amplifies all of them. Dense and yet also seamless on the palate, the 2012 RSV will need considerable time to shed its baby fat, but it is impressive just the same.

Vinous (97)

An intense, almost exotic wine, the 2012 Romanée St.-Vivant takes the elements that make RSV such a distinctive site and simply amplifies all of them. Dense and yet also seamless on the palate, the 2012 RSV will need considerable time to shed its baby fat, but it is impressive just the same.

Wine Advocate (90-92)

From the domaine’s 1.5-hectares, the usual 20 barrels was reduced to half for the 2012 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru. It has an opulent, vivacious bouquet with small dark cherries, blueberry and creme de cassis that is deliriously gorgeous. The palate is sweet on the entry with fleshy boysenberry and bilberry fruit. There is good presence and length here, although it needs just a touch more nuance on the finish. Always a solid performed, this comes recommended.

Wine Advocate (90)

Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru from Domaine Drouhin-Laroze has a composed bouquet of blackcurrant and raspberry fruit, a touch of cigar ash and woodland aromas developing close behind. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannin, low acidity, rather extracted and perhaps, just a little monotone on the finish. Maybe it will develop more personality in bottle...it should do.

Wine Enthusiast (94)

This marks an impressive step forward for this wine that's so often been in the shadows of other wines in the Lafite-Rothschild stable. It's dense and structured as well as deliciously fruity. The wine is straight down the line, starting with perfumed acidity and finishing with blackberry fruit. Intense and tannic, it's likely to age. Drink from 2020.

Vinous (93+)

Bright, dark red. Distinctly blacker and wilder on the nose than the Echézeaux, with dark berry and floral aromas complicated by notes of sous-bois, coffee, mocha and menthol. Rather tight, even musclebound, today but boasts terrific energy to its blackberry, menthol and violet flavors. Finishes adamantly dry, broad and soil-inflected, with considerable power and outstanding length. Like the Echézeaux, this is painfully backward today. The fruit was picked at 11.8% and chaptalized to 13.2%.

The Wine Cellar Insider (94-96)

The Merlot was picked from September 20 through October 9. The Cabernet Franc was harvested over 2 days, October 6 and October 8. From a blend of 93% Merlot with 7% Cabernet Franc, this is one of the highest percentages of Merlot in the estate’s history. However, this was not due to the lack of ripeness in the Cabernet Franc. Much of the Cabernet Franc was replanted starting in 2006. It is expected that the estate will be using closer to 20% Cabernet Franc in the blend starting in 2020. The wine reached 14.4% alcohol with a pH of 3.7. Yields were low at 31 hectoliters per hectare. Deep ruby in color, the wine exudes truffle, chocolate, plum liqueur, tobacco, smoke, roses and cherries. On the palate, the wine is pure silk and velvet in texture with volume, depth and length. Picture chocolate-covered cherries that you can eat, or drink, your choice. 94-96 Pts

Wine Spectator (92)

Sweet oak lends vanilla and toasty accents to the core of cherry and strawberry fruit. Linear in profile, with freshness and dusty tannins framing the candied berry notes on the long finish. Best from 2017 through 2027. 130 cases made.

Wine Advocate (85-87)

Notes of tobacco leaf, roasted herbs, red and black currants are found in this medium-bodied, straightforward 2012. Drink it over the next 5-6 years.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93)

The 2012 Figeac has a broody and backward bouquet with black fruit, autumn leaves, truffle and cedar. Not unlike Lafleur. The palate is fresh on the entry with pliant tannins, open and generous, layers of red fruit with a dash of white pepper and allspice. It fans out wonderfully towards the finish that just lacks a bit of persistence. The second bottle at Bordeaux Index's tasting shows a little more spiciness on the finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (93)

The 2012 Fleur Cardinale is a beautiful example of modern Saint-Emilion. Silky tannins and soft contours wrap around a core of red cherry jam, wild flowers, mint, cinnamon and white pepper. Dramatic and expansive on the palate, the 2012 shows remarkable nuance for such an intense wine. All the elements fall into place effortlessly.

The exquisite Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 2012 is a jewel of the Southern Rhone Valley. Produced by the revered Domaine du Pégau, traditional techniques are employed to celebrate the region's ideal terroir. The vineyard is tucked away in the heart of the Côtes du Rhône wine region in France, bestowing the Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 2012 with a robust structure and redolent profile. Old vines contribute to the complexity of this garnet gem.

Expressive of the 2012 vintage, this wine is defined by its supple tannins and stunning bouquet of ripe plums, sun-kissed berries, and exotic spices. Expect additional interweaving notes of leather, cocoa and wild herbs. Partially aged in large oak foudres, the wine balances its fruit-forward profile with a graceful, savoury edge. Don't miss out on this brilliant representation of celebrated winemaking craft and regional typicity - Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 2012.

The exquisite Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 2012 is a jewel of the Southern Rhone Valley. Produced by the revered Domaine du Pégau, traditional techniques are employed to celebrate the region's ideal terroir. The vineyard is tucked away in the heart of the Côtes du Rhône wine region in France, bestowing the Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 2012 with a robust structure and redolent profile. Old vines contribute to the complexity of this garnet gem.

Expressive of the 2012 vintage, this wine is defined by its supple tannins and stunning bouquet of ripe plums, sun-kissed berries, and exotic spices. Expect additional interweaving notes of leather, cocoa and wild herbs. Partially aged in large oak foudres, the wine balances its fruit-forward profile with a graceful, savoury edge. Don't miss out on this brilliant representation of celebrated winemaking craft and regional typicity - Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 2012.

Jancis Robinson (18)

Three casks from three different spots. Slightly cloudy cherry red. Really rich and solid. From a very good producer (a long-term proposition) and made in the domaine philosophy. Lots of tannin on the end. Very energetic. Very slightly bitter on the end.

Tim Atkin MW (97)

One of only five Grands Crus monopoles in Burgundy, this is sometimes regarded as being of lesser quality than the other four, but that’s unfair. The wine is improving with every vintage since it was elevated in 1992 and this is particularly fine. Delicate, sweet and stylish, it's a nunaced, fragrant Pinot with lacy tannins, effortlessly integrated oak and a bright, refreshing finish.

Wine Advocate (92)

Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts from Domaine François Lamarche has a refined and detailed bouquet: fresh strawberry, cranberry leaf and minerals, all very attractive. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, just a dab of oak to be fully subsumed, but with plenty of weight and volume on the pretty, quite spicy finish. It's just a delicious, well-crafted Vosne-Romanée and one of the best from the domaine in 2012.

The meticulously crafted Geantet Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs 2012 exudes opulence and finesse synonymous with the prestigious Geantet Pansiot estate. This remarkable Pinot Noir originates from the revered vineyard En Champs, situated in the heart of Burgundy's famed Gevrey-Chambertin appellation. The 2012 vintage, enriched by the prized limestone clay soil and nurtured by an optimal climate presents an exquisite blend of robust, ripe fruits underscored by structured tannins and an elegant minerality.

Vincent and Fabien Geantet, the accomplished father-son duo, painstakingly oversee the wine's evolution, abiding by traditional winemaking practices. The grapes, hand-picked at peak ripeness, were gently fermented, then aged for an impressive 18 months in French oak barrels, yielding aromas of redcurrant and blackberries with a hint of spiced oak on the nose.

Savour Geantet Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs 2012's complex and nuanced layers, a testament to the mastery of Burgundy's winemaking traditions that the Geantet Pansiot estate upholds.