2012 Red Wine

jamessuckling.com, 95 points: Traditional and beautiful in character with plum, balsamic, orange-peel and leather aromas and flavors. It’s medium-to full-bodied with creamy texture and a long, intense aftertaste. Drink or hold.

Wine Spectator, 96 points: Firm and dense, this red sports cherry, leather, cigar box and sweet spice flavors. A juiciness midpalate adds depth. Finishes with tannins and a combination of earth, mineral and tobacco notes. Best from 2022...

Wine Enthusiast, 92 points: One of the winery's most celebrated releases each year, this blend of all five major Bordeaux red varieties is an excellent showcase of Carmel Valley's class. Freshly squeezed blackberry and blackcurrant fruit meet with...

jamessuckling.com, 95 points: Always excellent for the vintage. What a nose with currants, blackberries, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stones and wet earth too. Full-bodied and refined yet muscular and trim. Fabulously polished tannins. Try drinking in 2020.

Vinous, 94 points: The 2012 Lessona Riserva is ample, creamy and voluptuous, and yet it also avoids some of the excess heaviness and ripeness found in other wines of the year. Sweet red cherry, blood orange, mint, dried flowers and anise...

jamessuckling.com, 93 points: A juicy and rich red, offering chocolate and hazelnuts. Plum and berry undertones. Full-bodied with angular tannins that are firm and muscular. Needs a year or two to soften still.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Château Margaux has a taut, linear, pencil lead-infused bouquet with pure blackberry and boysenberry scents, an undercurrent of tobacco that surfaces after five minutes...

jamessuckling.com, 97 points: A decadent nose of treacle tart, chocolate, tar, tons of black fruit such as blackberries and mulberries and even ash and licorice. A dense, layered mouthfeel makes for a full-bodied palate that's explosive yet somehow so...

Wine Enthusiast, 96 points: This combines considerable power and concentration with rich, impressive fruits. It has both style and elegance, with density to give it great aging potential. The tannins are firm while also having a velvet texture. The...

Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: (92–94 points) Barrel sample. A solid effort, this is a wine with great fruit and firm structure to support it. Ripe and full in the mouth, it's a firm and complex wine with a delicious juicy aftertaste. ROGER VOSS

Wine Enthusiast, 95 points: (93–95 points) Barrel sample. A complex and very successful wine, this shows rich tannins, dark fruits, a powerful texture of ripe blackberry fruits and spiced acidity. It will shine with some serious aging. ROGER VOSS

jamessuckling.com, 95 points: An extremely polished L'Evangile with light chocolate, stone and cedar that turns to green olive with hints of sweet tobacco. Full body, tight center palate with polished and very tight grained tannins. So much energy...

Decanter, 94 points: A striking bouquet of briary blackberry, wild plum, dark soil and warm spices is followed by a sappy, juicy wine underpinned by fine tannins and fresh acidity. There is palpable energy to this outstanding debut vintage of...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 97 points: The iconic 2012 Pape Clement is a candidate for near-perfection as well as one of the wines of the vintage. From proprietor Bernard Magrez, this is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1%...

Vinous, 96 points: The 2012 Haut Bailly is quite fragrant and inviting. Dark raspberries, mint, crushed flowers, spices and rose petals all lift from the glass in this feminine, gracious Haut-Bailly that offers considerable near and...