Bright, dark red. Spellbinding perfume combines red berries, cherry, Oriental spices, rose petal, licorice, pepper and minerals. Perfectly balanced from the outset, showing outstanding clarity and lift, not to mention superb sappy depth, to its multifaceted red fruit, mineral, spice and floral flavors. The combination of sweetness and grip is extraordinary, as is the wine's expanding, mounting aftertaste. Will this beauty ever go into a truly sullen stage? Probably.

A wine of almost raw, animal power, the 2012 La Tâche possesses stunning depth and intensity. Savory, floral and red citrus notes are pushed forward in an unusually virile, imposing La Tâche. Readers will have to be patient here, which will not surprise anyone familiar with the vintage. Still, I am taken aback by the wine’s embryonic youthfulness.

The 2012 La Tache Grand Cru was picked on September 25 and 27, thus avoiding the downpours in September 26. It comes across as strict and linear out of barrel, a serious La Tache that means business. There is an otherworldly degree of mineralite suffused into every atom, but it has an introverted nature at the moment. The palate is ethereal – textbook La Tache. It is endowed with awe-inspiring tension and intensity, extremely focused, broody at first but then unleashing a wave of extremely pure, almost sorbet-fresh red berries on the effervescent finish. Aubert de Villaine was traveling the Far East when I visited the domaine’s relocated offices that lie in the shadow of the church in the main square in Vosne. And so cellar-master Bernard Noblet, distinctive with his hulking frame, escorted me through barrel samples of their 2012. Not everything was available for me to taste. Their Montrachet was damaged by hail and consequently there is less than half the usual crop, and Bernard was adamant that the Corton was not in representative condition. Incidentally, there is no Cuvee Duvault-Blochet in 2012, as one would expect in such a small volume crop. The domaine gave me a summary of this infamous growing season that essentially repeated the remarks of other growers, but expressed in Aubert’s poetic, allegorical fashion, my favorite sentence: “The vigneron’s intervention is quiet and rare, as that of the crew of a sailboat navigating calm weather.” Of course, the domaine, especially vineyard manager Nicolas Jacob, was not spared the choppy waters of the tumultuous season that threatened to capsize many of the region’s finest vignerons. The estate’s biodynamic principles meant that applying the preparations and treatments proved challenging when one day out of every three was rainy. The harvest commenced on September 21 in Corton and finished nine days later in Echezeaux, the secateurs put back into their sheaths when the heavens opened on September 25 and 26. Yields are recorded at 20 hectoliters per hectare, which is approximately 25% less than usual. That said, upon entering the reception area I was confronted with what appeared to be the entire allocation for the United States shrink-wrapped on towering pallets. You have to remember that this is for one of the largest countries in the world. These barrel samples are rather academic. These wines are not available for another year and readers will find bottled reviews, which I have written every February since 1998, more relevant since the wines will be finished and ready for sale. However, I decided to publish these notes so that they can be juxtaposed against their peers and my remarks in 12 months time. One point that I found interesting was the more prudent use of stems, logical when you consider that the lack of sunshine in the early part of the season would mean not all stems would have been fully lignified. Therefore, the pickers had to patiently wait until the berries were fully ripe. You do not need me to tell you that their 2012s are variations upon “spellbinding” and will doubtless cost a pretty penny. Truth is, there are cheaper alternatives out there, many of which I have praised in my recent report. There is only one thing – they are not Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661 and through Corney & Barrow (UK).

Troisgros, father of Jean and Pierre, always said Tâche had cold feet (freshness). Sweet and round with a hint of saltiness. Layers and a hint of treacle. Good freshness and such a weight of fruit that it distracts from the tannins especially in this wine. Very gorgeous. But much stricter than in some vintages. Struggling to come out. Hint of violets after 30 minutes. But not at its most expressive today. Came out in the glass. Great life. (JR)