Tasting Report: All The Notes, And More Thoughts on 2012 Bordeaux

The campaign for 2012 Bordeaux futures, or en primeur, is well underway with such top names as first-growth Mouton-Rothschild (94-95 points), Rauzan-Segla (92-93), and Lynch-Bages (93-94) now selling on the market. The stable of top wines from JP Moueix was also sold recently, depending on the market, including such names as Trotanoy (94-95), La Fleur-Pétrus (93-94), and Bélair-Monange (92-93).

The good news is that prices are down between 30 percent and 40 percent on many of the top wines. This makes it interesting to all of us who love a delicious bottle of Bordeaux. People are buying already.

I remember speaking to Christian Moueix about this year's campaign when I was tasting his wines in late March (Trot and La Fleur Petrus, etc.), and he said that they had to sell their 2012 en primeur for a price less than current good vintages in bottle on the market. I believe that many Bordeaux wine producers have this in mind – and rightly so.

First-growths at around US$350 a bottle to the consumer makes sense. And some super seconds at well under $100 would be good news. I think it's attractive to people – especially many who found top wines from the great 2009 and 2010 vintages out of their budget.

I was walking down the street in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, to meet a wine merchant friend for lunch and I was stopped by an expat by chance. "You are James Suckling!" he said with a smile. "I was just downloading your tasting notes. I was thinking about buying a few cases of the 2012 Lynch-Bages. What do you think?"

Well, below are all of the rest of my tasting notes for 2012 Bordeaux futures following my Top 100 at the beginning of this month. I tasted close to 600 wines while in Bordeaux in late March. My team has put together three pdfs with all the scores: by name, by score, and by appellation.

You will have to use the search on the site to get complete tasting notes. Please remember to select the vintage of 2012 before searching.

I still think that we have to keep in mind that 2012 was not a great vintage. In fact, it was amazing how good the wines were considering how difficult the growing season and harvest was. If I think back to similar vintages over the 30 years I have tasted barrel samples of Bordeaux, the 2012 would have made very few outstanding wines in the past. It only shows what great grape growers and winemakers the best of Bordeaux are.

I found eight wines that are serious contenders for 95-point wines  – or classic quality. A couple will most likely be even higher: Haut-Brion white (97-98), Petrus (97-98), and Le Pin (96-97). The Petrus reminds me of the great 1971 – a classic among top wine collectors in the world. Le Pin might be something like 1986. HB white? Well, it dances to its own music and is great in almost all years now.

Of the close to 600 wines I tasted this year, I think about one-third, or about 200, will be outstanding when I retaste the wines in 2015 from bottle. That's a good number.

Still, it may not make sense for many consumers to buy 2012. I can't see how prices will be much more than now, and when the wines are physically available in bottle in a few years. That's the point in the end. You want to save money paying now and getting the wines later. But, as we know, this not always case.

But people sometimes forget that there's something fun about buying futures, or en primeur. It's something new each year. And some of us like the idea of buying some wine and knowing that it will be coming to us a few years later.

I am already checking out the prices everyday and wondering if I should buy or not. Checking my finances. Looking at what I have in my cellar in Europe and Hong Kong. It's just part of my wine life and it's probably part of yours if you are reading this. Take your time. Buy a few things, but remember, you probably are not going to make money on 2012. It's just about the wine.

-James Suckling