(BH92-94 points) Lachaux noted that there was a very high percentage of shot berries in 2012 and it shows as there is a palpable density to the fruit and flavors that is most impressive. The notably spicy black fruit and violet aromas introduce exceptionally concentrated and mouth coating flavors as the abundant sap completely buffers the otherwise firm tannic spine on the balanced and wonderfully persistent finish. This is at once seductive but serious and should amply repay mid-term cellaring.

The 2012 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots was Charles Lachaux's debut vintage at the estate, and the wine looks back to his father's style as much as it anticipates his own. Offering up a rich bouquet of wild berries, baking chocolate, warm spices, peonies and toasty oak, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with an elegantly muscular chassis of powdery tannin, lively acids and a long, expansive finish. It's a lovely wine, but it's more marked by its élevage and not quite so captivatingly perfumed as the 2018 tasted alongside. It was vinified with 50% whole cluster. - William Kelley