2012 Wine from France

Vinous, 94 points: Delamotte’s 2012 Brut Vintage is rich, creamy and super-expressive. This is only the second vintage (the first was 2008) in which fruit from Oiry rounds out the classic core of Le Mesnil, Oger and Cramant that forms the...

TheWineCellarInsider.com, 92 points: I am tempted to give this another point. It's just a beauty. Deep in color, lushly textured, with layers of licorice, black and blue fruits, espresso, dark cocoa and earth. It's going to be hard to find a better value in...

jamessuckling.com, 99 points: This is a great vintage for Cristal Rosé. The pinot noir finds a band of power and expressiveness. The power here is impressive, very assertive and rich, really mouth-filling and super deep. This is exceptional and has...

Wine Spectator, 93 points: A rich version, this savory red evokes cherry, blackberry, beet, black currant, smoke and tobacco notes. Dense yet supple in texture, with a firm underlying structure and a compact finish. The long aftertaste suggests tar...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: One of the von Neipperg estates, the 2012 Clos de l'Oratoire is an undeniable success story. Dense ruby/purple, with plenty of crème de cassis, roasted coffee, licorice and spice, full-bodied, opulent and sexy, it is a...

View From The Cellar, 92 points: 92+ The Rossignols’ parcel in Combottes is always the very first vines that are harvested at the domaine, as they sit up high in the vineyard where the soil is very much defined by its fine, small stones here that retain...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 92 points: The 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape (70% Grenache and 15% each of Syrah and Mourvedre) is beautiful, with medium to full-bodied richness, lots of sweet black raspberry fruit, graphite, bouquet garni and licorice aromatics, and...

Vinous, 91 points: Bright medium red. Ineffable aromas of perfumed red fruits, dried flowers and truffley underbrush, complicated by a saline quality. Supple and seamless on the palate, showing a restrained sweetness to its flavors of red...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: 96+Disgorged in March 2018 to be released later this year is the 2012 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Les Chemins d'Avize, an impressive wine that wafts from the glass with scents of almond paste, pear, lemon and...

Wine Enthusiast, 95 points: The iconic Belle Epoque bottle reveals a well-structured, taut wine. With Chardonnay very much in evidence in the mineral texture, the wine is almost as floral as the bottle. Drink from 2021. ROGER VOSS

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 95 points: My favorite of the lineup, and one of the top Châteauneufs in the vintage, the 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape Imperiale is 95% Grenache (5% other varieties) that comes from 100-year-old vines and the pure sand soils of the...

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, 98 points: (NM96-98 points) The Grand Vin was picked between 21 September and 4th October for the Merlot, with the Cabernet Franc picked on 6th October. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc (aged in 80% new oak) it has...