WINES OF THE YEAR 2012 | 2012 VINTAGE GUIDE 

Year, Vintage 2012

Visit vintage 2012 is a vintage that's close to your heart? Is it a year of birth, a year of marriage or any other symbol that makes you want to offer or drink a wine from that year? We'll help you decipher this vintage, so you can buy the bottle that best suits your needs.

> 2012 vintage wines in stock

Vintage 2012 in BORDEAUX

Some vintages are just not fun to vinify, and this was the case for the 2012 vintage. Even if this isn't the case for all regions of France, Bordeaux was really badly off weather-wise. And yet, the first few months were shaping up perfectly. The mild winter had enabled a classic, even budburst throughout the vineyards. Then came the hard times... Heavy rains fell throughout Bordeaux for most of the vegetative cycle. There were only a few days without a torrential downpour. Unfortunately, with such heavy rainfall, disease made its appearance, causing considerable damage to the vines and preventing the grapes from developing properly. The winegrower's work was therefore very important in order to produce a quality wine. Firstly, he had to sort the grapes very carefully, as many had not reached their alcoholic and phenolic maturity. Grapes that are too waterlogged risk producing diluted wines with a lack of concentration. After severe sorting, the work continues in the cellar, where maceration and fermentation management will be paramount to obtaining good-quality wines. The best winemakers will be able to offer a wine of good quality, but of average ageing potential. For Sauternes wines, on the other hand, it's all very complicated. The incessant rainfall means that botrytis cannot develop properly. Some estates will not have released a first wine in the appellation. If we have to define a tasting priority between Libourne wines and Medoc wines, we advise you to start on the right bank. The wines of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol are better than their left-bank neighbors.

We recommend you try the very good Pomerol Château Le Chemin 2012. Property of the Despagne family. Then, you can choose between le Clos Fourtet 2012a magnificent, powerful and velvety grand cru classé, or the Château Beausejour Becotmore mineral, finer. Two very fine properties.

> See all our Bordeaux wines from 2012 

 

Vintage 2012 in BOURGOGNE

The 2012 vintage was a titanic struggle that tested the nerves of the winegrowers to the limit. All the climatic difficulties were present to make life hard for our wine enthusiasts. Winter 2012 was fairly mild, with some cool temperatures, but nothing too serious for the vines at that time of year. Then came the rain, with heavy downpours. Calm returned in May. Water-laden soils were hit by the sun, resulting in high humidity in the vineyards, and hence the outbreak of a few diseases and run-off. This was just the beginning of a long series of attacks on vines and grapes. To continue, even though the summer was less intense in terms of rainfall, it was the opposite that caused the loss of a few bunches of grapes. During the 2012 vintage, the sun made rapid and intense appearances, attacking the grapes and roasting some of them. This, combined with hailstorms, decimated the vines. Only the hardiest bunches remained intact. With all these complications, the vines were able to forge a carapace for themselves, the skin of the grapes being thicker, the grapes inside were able to reach a very good level of ripeness and will be harvested under the sun, resulting in healthy, ripe and powerful grapes.

> Discover all our 2012 Burgundy wines

 

If you'd like to sample a few bottles of this beautiful but rare 2012 vintage, we've got some fine bottles for you.

Starting with a superb, complex wine, rich but with superb finesse. This is the

- Pommard 1er Cru les Rugiens - Dominique Laurent : The Pommard appellation doesn't have a Grand Cru, but if one had to be named, it would be the parcels of Rugiens that would be in pole position for the grail.

Then we could suggest a Gevrey-Chambertin with its roots in Jurassic soils. A pure marvel of minerality, combined with the structure of Gevrey.

- Gevrey-Chambertin Ostréa - Domaine Trapet : To close this Burgundy page, we end with our only white wine from Burgundy 2012, but not the least.

- Chablis 1er Cru La Forest - Domaine Dauvissat A pioneer of Chardonnay and its limestone soils, this winegrower is emblematic of the appellation. After 9 years, this Chablis is deep and opulent, with notes of white truffles and undergrowth. A pure marvel.

 

Vintage 2012 in VALLEE DU RHÔNE

The rare miracles of a very difficult year for French vineyards, the Rhône Valley wines go through a beautiful door. However, the beginning of the year was the opposite of the rest of the French vineyards. Spring was very hard, with a lot of rain bringing a lot of humidity, which led to health problems. Fortunately, the very cold winter slowed down the vine cycle, preventing disease and loss of juice. As a result, budburst and flowering were a little late, with uneven development. Then summer arrived. The sun did its job, providing all the warmth it could and allowing the grapes to reach the necessary maturity. A great vintage is the result of a multitude of little things. A cool winter, a hot summer, low humidity... This year, 2012, brings together all these little things to enable the winemakers to produce a great vintage.

> See the 2012 Rhône wines

Vintage 2012 in the rest of France

The 2012 vintage was a very difficult one for much of the vineyard. Many winegrowers would have preferred to vinify dry, well-balanced grapes, yet this was not the case for a large proportion of them. However, some wine-growing regions fared rather well.

Among them, the ChampagneThis was certainly one of the vintage's greatest successes. However, as in the Rhône Valley, the beginning of the vegetative cycle was rather complicated, with a lot of cold and a little rain. But the summer was perfect, and the grapes were harvested in perfect health. Great Champagnes will be born of this fine vintage.

Then comes the Languedoc-RoussillonUnlike the Champagne region, which was hit by drought and intense heat, the grapes were very small and, what's more, attacked by hailstorms. However, the hot, dry summer helped the grapes to reach maturity.