Geoffrey Dean assesses the 2012 vintage in Bordeaux after attending pre-primeurs week there, and lists his top 10 selections.
Despite some challenging and difficult weather conditions in 2012, Bordeaux has produced some outstanding wines from that year, especially on the Right Bank. That did not seem at all likely after a shortage of sunshine in the first half of the growing season, but the vintage was saved by hot and very dry weather from mid-July to September that enabled a large proportion of black grapes to ripen fully. Cool nights in those months allowed white grapes to retain their acidity, a key factor in the production of exemplary white wine in Pessac-Leognan. In Sauternes, however, too much humidity and insufficient wind mitigated heavily against the production of quality sweet wine, with three of the top players - Yquem, Rieussec and Suidiraut - declining to make any grand vin. A few, led by Coutet, produced some outstanding results, but yields were extraordinarily low.
While 2012 will be remembered as a Right Bank vintage, as merlot and cabernet franc ripened without difficulty, parts of the Left Bank still conjured up some remarkable wines, if none quite as good as those of Ausone and Cheval Blanc. Significantly, merlot became the dominant grape for Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion and Palmer. If many observers arrived for the primeur tastings expecting to find more greenness than they cared for in cabernet-dominated wines, they were pleasantly surprised. For there were very little green notes to be found in Medoc and Pessec-Leognan reds.
Wineries confessed that their teams had never worked so hard in the vineyards, taking bunch-thinning and leaf-plucking to new levels. Getting the grapes off the vine before the rains arrived was another vital necessity, with Lafite Rothschild hiring as many as 450 pickers for their Lafite and Duhart Milon vineyards to beat the rain that arrived in mid-October and barely stopped till mid-February. Indeed, it has been one of Bordeaux's wettest winters in living memory.
But enough of the Bordelais' trials and tribulations. What are the wines really like? Across the board in the classed growths and at cru bourgeois level, there is real precision and sweetness of fruit, while tannins are generally soft, ripe and well-integrated. There is some remarkable concentration too. Aromas are more lifted and pronounced than 2011, an inferior vintage in most cases. Above all, there is typicity, with a real expression of terroir. It may not be a consummate year in the mould of 2009 or 2010, but Paul Pontallier said that his Margaux grand vin would have been "a great wine had we not had '09 and '10, which reset levels that were unthinkable."
Therein, perhaps, lies cause for gratitude, as this is likely to be a year for the drinker rather than investor. Jean-Christophe Mau, head of leading Bordeaux negociant, Yvon Mau, spoke of the large stock of 2011 that the Place de Bordeaux has still to unload. That is bound to affect the prices of the 2012s, making the better wines more affordable.
Finally, a word on Sauternes and Barsac. This was a year when the skill of pickers was almost as important as the fruit, ensuring its purity. "We owed a lot to our team of 80, who responded very quickly when we called them," said Aline Bally of Coutet. "We had four pickings, with the most important in late October after a weekend of sun and wind." The result is the sweet wine of the vintage - fabulously concentrated with more residual sugar than any other producer (145g/l), yet showing delicacy, freshness and perfect balance. Coutet's yield was just 4hl/h for its flagship wine, but Guiraud trumped that with a startling 1hl/ha.
BEST SWEET WINES
1) Coutet 96/100
2)= Guiraud; Rayne Vigneau; Clos Haut-Peyraguey 95
5) = Climens; Rabaud-Promis 94
7)= Lafaurie-Peyraguey; La Tour Blanche 93
9) Filhot 92
10)= Nairac; Doisy-Vedrines 91
BEST RIGHT BANK
1)= Cheval Blanc; Ausone 96/100
3) Le Pin 95
4) Figeac 94
5)= Clos Fourtet; La Conseillante; Angelus 93
8)= Canon La Gaffeliere; Valandraud 92
10)= Le Petit Village; Canon 91
Note: Petrus not tasted
TOP LEFT BANK
1) Haut-Brion; La Mission Haut-Brion; Palmer; Margaux 95/100
5)= Lafite; Montrose 94
7)= Haut Bailly; Pichon Baron; Pontet-Canet 93
10)= Mouton Rothschild; Grand-Puy-Lacoste; Issan; Calon Segur; Leoville Las Cases; Rauzan-Segla 92
Note: Latour not tasted
BEST SECOND WINE
1)= La Chapelle d'Ausone; Le Petit Cheval Blanc 92
3)= La Parde d'Haut-Bailly; Le Pavillon Rouge 91
5) Les Tourelles de Longueville 90
6)=Le Carillon de l'Angelus; La Dame de Montrose; Le Petit Mouton 89
9) La Fugue de Nenin 88
10) Le Jardin de Petit Village 87
BEST DRY WHITE
1) Domaine de Chevalier 97/100
2) La Mission Haut Brion; Haut Brion; Pape Clement 96
5)= Smith Haut Lafitte; Carbonnieux; Fieuzal 95
8)= Brown; Couhins 94
10)= Le Pavillon Blanc; Malartic-Lagraviere 93