Château Rauzan-Ségla 2012 is the grand vin of this Second Growth Margaux estate, a property on gravel and clay soils that, in 2012, began moving toward a more organic approach, including using Shire horses in part of the vineyard. The wine sits at 13.5% alcohol, and the blend reported by *Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate* is 54.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, and 1.5% Petit Verdot.
In the glass and on the palate, the 2012 shows a style that is more structured than immediately charming, but it is consistently described as concentrated and built to age. The strongest critical endorsements are excellent. *The Wine Independent* (95) calls it “a tad closed to begin,” then “fantastic intensity,” with “firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and lifted.” *Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate* (94+) describes “dense blueberry, blackberry and cassis fruit” alongside “licorice, vanilla, foresty notes and spice,” calling it “one of the great successes of the vintage,” and recommending “5-7 years of bottle age” with a long drinking window thereafter. *Wine Enthusiast* (94) likewise emphasizes its frame: “firmly structured” and “beautifully crafted,” with “blackberry fruit flavors with generous acidity,” advising to “drink from 2020.”
Several notes underline its darker, cocoa-tinged register. *Wine Spectator* (91) highlights a “toasty, fleshy style” with “cocoa” around “blackberry, black currant and plum,” finishing with “black tea, alder and loam accents,” and suggests “Best from 2016 through 2024.” Jane Anson (94) reports it as “inky purple… deep and concentrated,” with “cocoa bean, chocolate shavings” and “rich concentrated damson and plum fruits,” recommending “two to three hours in a carafe.”
Not every recent tasting finds it expansive on the nose—Vinous (91) notes it can come across “a little flat”—but even there it’s described as “toothsome Margaux” with a “dense, more muscular finish” that should reward further cellaring. James Suckling (93) sums up the overall shape: “full and silky,” “very persistent and structured,” needing time “to soften.”
