5 | Wine | Wine Futures, Red Bordeaux Blend

"Displays good depth and weight, with plush plum and cassis notes, featuring ample toast that should integrate well with time."

"Juicy and direct, with solid plum, raspberry and bitter cherry notes pushed by woodspice, singed alder and charcoal. Nice range, and with a pleasantly chewy, grippy feel."

"Features a bright, lively, leafy edge, with cassis bush and tobacco framing the slightly tangy core of red currant and black cherry, showing a solid note of iron. Cuts a distinctive profile, displaying sappy intensity through the finish."

"One of the superstars of the vintage, it boasts an inky/purple color as well as abundant notes of blueberry liqueur, graphite, truffles, acacia flowers and subtle toast. Full-bodied, opulent and already easy to drink, this large-scaled wine possesses high levels of tannin, but they are relatively well-concealed by the extravagant fruit, glycerin, texture and density of this compelling Troplong Mondot. This impressive wine may shut down after bottling and require 4-5 years of cellaring. It has the potential to last at least 15-20 years. Bravo!" -Robert Parker

"The intensely ripe Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the plateau at Mouton has produced an inky/purple-colored wine with the famous Mouton creme de cassis and floral characteristics vividly displayed. For the first time in a number of years they appear to have outdistanced their cross street rival, the biodynamically farmed Chateau Pontet Canet of Alfred Tesseron. Wonderfully sweet tannins envelop the enormous fruit and extravagant richness of this full-bodied Mouton Rothschild. With profound density as well as surprisingly sweet tannin, this terrific effort will probably shut down slightly and require 5-8 years of cellaring after bottling. It appears to have 30 or more years of aging potential, making it potentially one of the 3 or 4 longest-lived wines of the vintage."-Robert Parker

"Delightfully fresh and pure, with beautifully expressive aromas of blueberry, raspberry, plum and boysenberry fruit. This tames the grippy, taut side of the vintage, delivering sleek, silky tannins and a long, spice-infused finish. Offers lovely length and precision."

"Plush for the vintage, with a lovely, caressing feel and lots of steeped plum, anise and blackberry fruit. Displays a lacing of tar through the finish, revealing a graceful tug of earth."
Reviewed by: Wine Spectator, 93 to 96 pts

"One of the stars of the vintage, it is a complete, medium to full-bodied, soft, round, atypically accessible effort displaying lots of minerality along with red and black fruits, exceptional fragrance and purity, a fleshy mid-palate and a long finish. A remarkable fact in both these wines is that the alcohol levels in 2012 hit 14.8%, which nearly equals the record levels achieved in 2010 – that’s astonishing! This 2012 should drink well 3-4 years after bottling, and last for 20-25 years." -Robert Parker

"It offers an opaque dense purple color along with attractive blackberry, licorice, truffle and cassis fruit notes. It is full-bodied and dense with an authoritative mid-palate, sweet tannin and a layered mouthfeel that builds incrementally into a stunningly long finish. Precocious and charming already, it will drink better at an earlier age than the massive, prodigious 2009. Drink this killer St.-Emilion over the next 15+ years." -Robert Parker

"A mix of dark plum, blackberry and fig fruit rumbles along here, with a charcoal note cutting a broad swath. Solid, if a bit blunt in the end, as bittersweet cocoa clamps own on the finish. Went for obvious extraction, and now we have to wait and see if this stretches out in time or stays landlocked by the square tannins."
-Reviewed by: Wine Spectator - 89 to 92 pts

"It boasts an inky/blue/purple color as well as gorgeous aromas of black and blue fruits, spring flowers, and hints of background toast and forest floor. Well-integrated wood and acidity as well as moderately ripe tannins make for a medium to full-bodied, expansive, flavorful, rich, well-delineated effort. It will need 3-5 years of bottle age and should drink well for two decades thereafter."-Robert Parker

"A brilliant success again, this blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot is a medium-bodied, impressively concentrated wine with copious quantities of red and black fruits. Licorice, roasted herbs and a touch of background oak are present in this slightly precocious wine, which should be accessible when released. It has the depth to evolve for 20 or more years. Talk about a severe selection – only 41% made it into the grand vin!" -Robert Parker