The brilliant 2012 Rauzan-Ségla is unquestionably one of the successes in the Médoc in 2012. Its still youthful ruby/purple color is followed by impressive notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, cedar, graphite, and some earthy, underbrush-like nuances. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and balanced, it builds with time in the glass and has plenty of tannins as well as length. While it offers pleasure today, it’s going to benefit from another 4-5 years of bottle age, and it should be long-lived.

Deep garnet in color, the 2012 Rauzan-Ségla reveals evolving notions of new leather, cigar box and stewed tea over a core of blackcurrant cordial, plum preserves and blueberry compote with touches of cumin seed and fenugreek. Medium-bodied, the palate has a lot of spritely zip with red fruit accents lifting the mature savory and spice notes, framed by grainy tannins, finishing with great tension.

The blend this year is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 27th and October 20th, at an average yield of 36 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 70% new. The alcohol is 13.5%, and the pH is 3.67. LPB

The 2012 Rauzan-Ségla (54.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 1.5% Petit Verdot) is a classic Rauzan-Ségla, still relatively backward and tannic, but concentrated and extremely promising. Dense blueberry, blackberry and cassis fruit along with some licorice, vanilla, foresty notes and spice are all present in this full-bodied yet structured and big, beefy style of Rauzan-Ségla . It may turn out to be somewhat atypical for this château in its size and masculine structure, but this is impressive wine, and one of the great successes of the vintage. Give it 5-7 years of bottle age and drink it over the following three decades. 94+ points – Robert Parker 94+ (Wine Advocate #218, April 2015)

The 2012 Rauzan-Ségla has a similar colour to the 2015 although it has a hard time competing with the delineation, the crystalline nature of the 2015. Yet it compensates with the sheer aromatic flamboyance. This has really opened up in the last 18 months or so, quite lush and precocious black fruit, loam and iris, just a slight hint of bell pepper emanating from the small amount of Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin. There is a lovely seam of acidity here that lends the 2012 a sense of focus. It is not a deep or lavish Rauzan-Ségla, in some ways a little more conservative than I recall. There is fine grip on the saline finish, perhaps a Margaux that is just beginning to close up for a while? This still has great potential. Tasted at the Rauzan-Ségla vertical at the château.

A full and silky wine with a slightly hollow center-palate now but it’s very pretty and chewy. Needs two or three years to soften. Very persistent and structured. – jamessuckling.com, April 2013

[62CS/36M/2PV] (45% harvest, 28hl/ha 13%, 70% New) A wonderful cassis style bouquet; rich, concentrated, vital wine, finely and firmly tannic with, like so many, a gorgeous fruit; long to taste, spiced, intense, vivid, juicy and mouthcoatingly perfumed too, long across the palate, long to finish. As with Palmer, both a very seductive fruit, but structure and complexity too. An exceptional fruit presence, generosity, intensity. A great Rauzan-Ségla. Ideally needs at least ten years, but because of the fruit mass I expect it will be accessible earlier. Drink 2023-35+.
-M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2013

The 2012 Rauzan-Ségla is super-classy from start to finish. Sweet floral notes meld into spice, dried flowers, lavender and black cherry. This is a distinctly racy, open Rauzan-Ségla that should drink well with minimal cellaring. Today, the new oak is a bit prominent, but a little more time in bottle should take care of things.

A toasty, fleshy style, with a cocoa note pulling and pushing the core of blackberry, black currant and plum fruit. Picks up more range through the finish, with black tea, alder and loam accents, boding well for cellaring. Best from 2016 through 2024. 8,750 cases made. – James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, March 2015)

Tasted blind. Relatively high volatile acidity. Then really rather stringy on the palate. Care has been taken to soften the tannins but the fruit is hard work at this stage – not fully ripe.