92+ These thirty year-old vines are beautifully-situated in Rugiens, at the very bottom of the Rugiens Hautes section of the vineyard. The inherent elegance of the 2012 vintage is very much in evidence in the lovely...
92+ These thirty year-old vines are beautifully-situated in Rugiens, at the very bottom of the Rugiens Hautes section of the vineyard. The inherent elegance of the 2012 vintage is very much in evidence in the lovely bouquet of cherries, quince, classy soil tones, incipient gamebirds, woodsmoke, roses and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very silky on the attack, with a fine core, ripe tannins and excellent length and grip on the primary and very transparent finish. At thirty years of age, these are some of the youngest pinot noir vines that the Fontaine family exploits, and they have not delivered quite the same level of mid-palate concentration and sappiness as the other reds in the cellar this year, but this is also going to be a very, very fine bottle in the fullness of time. (Drink between 2020-2050)