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The wine of the vintage is the Perrin’s 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin, and it will most likely merit a perfect rating in another couple of years. Full-bodied, massive and layered on the palate, with awesome purity and freshness, it delivers incredible aromatics of beef blood, truffle, graphite, iron and black and blue fruits. Given all of the fruit and texture, you almost have to hunt for the structure here, but trust me, it’s there. The tasting at Beaucastel took place a 9 a.m., and even then, this is one wine I found impossible to spit. It’s a tour de force that will have 3-4 decades of life.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThe wine of the vintage is the Perrins’ 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin, which has a classic, sexy, accessible style yet is also going to age beautifully. Massive amounts of smoked black fruits, ground pepper, iodine, truffle, and bloody meat all emerge from this inky colored behemoth. With full body, building tannins, no hard edges, and a rock star of a finish, it’s primary and youthful, but incredible. Ideally, it would be given another 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for another 3 decades or more. It’s an awesome wine!Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDSpice, lift and zest - the hallmarks of the vintage are immediately apparent on the nose. Some woody, roasted spices are starting to take root now, along with damsons, and crushed damson stones. Rounded, rich and plush on the palate, all very well integrated, such delicious, intense juice. The alcohol is high but it gives the wine its foundation this year - a jolly, red-cheeked vintage built around alcohol, but not dominated by it. Delicious now, will be even better later. Drinking Window 2020 - 2036Decanter | 99 DECLots of spices such as cloves and black pepper. Some grilled meat as well. Complex undertones of mushrooms. Full-bodied, complex and refined yet very open now with cherry, sweet and ripe fruit and a balanced finish. Excellent acidity and length. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 97 JSDark purple. Powerful aromas of cherry liqueur, licorice pastille and pungent flowers, with exotic Indian spice and mocha overtones. Dense, sweet and broad, offering intense black and blue fruit preserve, violet and spicecake flavors enlivened by juicy acidity. Fine-grained tannins build slowly through the clinging, appealingly sweet finish, which shows outstanding clarity and persistence and lingering florality. One of the standouts of the vintage and surprisingly approachable for this bottling, although drinking it before its tenth birthday would seem like a shame to me.Vinous Media | 96 VMSerious, with dark fig, black currant and blackberry confiture notes forming a large-scale core, while licorice snap, Turkish coffee and pastis details lend an expansive feel. The long, dense finish has a brooding personality now, with a warm cast-iron note echoing. Should be a stunner when it reaches its peak. Best from 2019 through 2032. 500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

I really love the 2012 Suchots from Domaine Hudelot, as the overtly red fruity character of this wine this year is very rare for this terroir and earmarks a very special vintage of the wine. The gorgeous nose offers up scents of cherries, raspberries, a touch of blood orange, Vosne spices, a beautiful base of minerality, woodsmoke and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very transparent, with a sappy core of fruit, fine-grained tannins and a very, very long, soil-driven and tangy finish. Superb juice. (Drink between 2020 - 2050)John Gilman | 93+ JGThe 2012 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots comes from a 0.45-hectare holding planted back in 1920. It has a slightly muted nose out of barrel, but it unfurls revealing earthy, mossy scents with aeration. The palate is clean and fresh, but somehow foursquare and a little conservative compared to some of the domaine’s other premier crus. You get the impression that this Les Suchots is hiding something up its sleeve, whereas this vineyard is habitually one of the most expressive in its youth.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 89-91 RPBright medium red. Ripe, alluring aromas and flavors of wild strawberry, raspberry and earth. Sweet, fine-grained and enveloping, showing lovely energy and density and still holding its fruit in reserve. Finishes fresh and firm-edged, with full, fine-grained tannins and excellent length.Vinous Media | 91 VMA spicy and notably ripe nose features aromas of dark pinot fruit, red currant, blood orange and an abundance of spice elements that include anise and sandalwood. There is an elegant mouth feel to the luscious and generously proportioned middle weight flavors that possess a velvety texture, all wrapped in a beautifully complex finish. If there is a concern though it’s that this very firmly structured effort feels as though it may turn secondary relatively early in its evolution. As such I underscore my concern with a question mark because it will certainly require more than 8 years of bottle age to resolve the tannins yet the fruit may no longer be there.Burghound | 90 BH

A gorgeous wine from proprietor Denis Durantou, this blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc is an inky purple color, with gorgeous purity of black raspberries, blackcurrants and blackberry with a hint of truffle and spring flowers. Its is full-bodied, opulent and a tour de force in this vintage. Great presence on the palate, fabulous purity and a long finish make for a magnificent bottle of wine to drink over the next 20-some years.Robert Parker | 96 RPThe 2012 L'Eglise Clinet is a real head-turner. Explosive and rich in the glass, the 2012 boasts superb depth throughout. Sweet floral and spiced notes develop first, followed by intense red and blue-fleshed fruit. Violets, mint, sage and sweet spices add nuance as the 2012 opens up, but it is really the wine's vertical structure that stands out above all else. I very much like the pure energy that is so central to the wine's personality. This is a superb showing, and one of the clear highlights of the year. Readers should cellar the 2012 for at least a few years.Antonio Galloni | 95 AGThis delivers a gorgeously pure and racy core of raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry fruit, melded perfectly with singed black tea leaf, dried star anise and roasted apple wood notes. Velvety and alluring overall, but there's a bright minerality buried on the finish. Best from 2016 through 2027. 1,417 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSRich, ripe and dense. Expressive red berry nose with toasted oak evident. Sweet, plush mid-palate (heightened by 14.5% alcohol although that doesn't show). Long, firm finish. A touch dry on the end. Drinking Window 2020 - 2032.Decanter | 91 DEC