The 2012 La Tâche was picked September 25 and 27 at 21 hectoliters per hectare. It is blessed with one of those aromatic profiles that stops you in your tracks, in some ways stops time itself. There is an intensity and drive here, a mixture of red and black fruit, autumn leaves and wet limestone and later, roof tiles on a hot July afternoon. The palate is medium-bodied and nigh perfectly balanced. The tannins are filigree, the fruit extremely pure with an intense mineralité on the finish. (NM)

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Even at 11 years of age, there is relatively little evident development on the moderately restrained nose that displays good ripeness to the spiced green tea, hoisin, soy, anise, sandalwood and rose petal aromas. The cool, pure and seductively textured medium weight plus flavors brim with both minerality and plenty of dry extract that buffers the still moderately firm but not hard shaping tannins on the youthfully austere and seriously persistent finish. While the nose reflects relatively little development, the finish is clearly more supple than it was when I first reviewed it because the dense yet fine tannins make their presence felt but they don't dominate. In sum, despite the presence of plenty of volume and muscle, I would still describe the 2012 LT as a wine of finesse. In a word, brilliant. I would note that I tasted another bottle in 2023 that was reduced and bretty, indeed to the point where I did not finish my glass. I have no idea what might have happened but it would be correct to say that it did not resemble what I describe above at all.

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