The 2012 Red Burgundies from Bottle

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single taster facing two glasses of wine from the same producer will always prefer one over the other. Depending on the taster’s predilections, one wine will seem more floral and refined, tauter, sweeter, deeper, fruitier, livelier, longer. It follows that the other will come across as less concentrated, less pristine, simpler, heavier . . . less magical. That was the case for me writing large in dozens of cellars in Burgundy when I tasted the 2013 and 2012 red wines, essentially side by side, in November.

During the early days of my tour, the racy acidity and exhilarating high-pitched aromatics of the 2013s tasted from barrel often made the 2012s come off as a bit ponderous, if not overripe. But at a certain point I found myself yielding to the fleshy charms of the highly concentrated, ripely tannic 2012s.

Driving across the top of the Clos Vougeot

2012s From Bottle

In recent weeks, chez moi, I have sampled dozens of additional 2012s, this time without the 2013s for comparison. And on their own, the 2012s are wonderfully rich, satisfying wines that offer glorious fruit and site character, uncanny flavor intensity, and the balance and stuffing for at least mid-term aging. Moreover, many of the wines I have tasted or revisited this winter seem already to be closing down in bottle. Although their aromas are still pure and multifaceted and their uncommon concentration clear to see, they are showing even more backbone now and evolving very slowly. For me, the major question to be answered is one that was raised about the 2012s by Frédéric Mugnier during my cellar visit in November: “Do they have a hidden dimension?” That may turn out to be the difference between very good and outstanding wines. And if the wines are sweet, fleshy, fresh and satisfying, how many of today’s Burgundy drinkers, who typically tend to consume their wines too early, will really be more concerned with what they don’t find in the glass?

In all the talk of climatic challenges, small crops, serious financial troubles for many producers on the Côte de Beaune, and record prices for Burgundies these days, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that vintages 2010 through 2013 have provided many, many beautiful and eminently ageworthy wines. Two thousand twelve is the richest vintage of the group and the year that will have the widest appeal.

The Côte de Nuits glistens on a lucid November day

Côte de Beaune Versus Côte de Nuits