2012 La Tache

A wine of almost raw, animal power, the 2012 La Tâche possesses stunning depth and intensity. Savory, floral and red citrus notes are pushed forward in an unusually virile, imposing La Tâche. Readers will have to be patient here, which will not surprise anyone familiar with the vintage. Still, I am taken aback by the wine’s embryonic youthfulness.

A wine of almost raw, animal power, the 2012 La Tâche possesses stunning depth and intensity. Savory, floral and red citrus notes are pushed forward in an unusually virile, imposing La Tâche. Readers will have to be patient here, which will not surprise anyone familiar with the vintage. Still, I am taken aback by the wine's embryonic youthfulness.

The 2012 La Tâche was picked September 25 and 27 at 21 hectoliters per hectare. It is blessed with one of those aromatic profiles that stops you in your tracks, in some ways stops time itself. There is an intensity and drive here, a mixture of red and black fruit, autumn leaves and wet limestone and later, roof tiles on a hot July afternoon. The palate is medium-bodied and nigh perfectly balanced. The tannins are filigree, the fruit extremely pure with an intense mineralité on the finish. There is an effortless quality about this La Tâche and yet is just clams up on the finish, does not quite deliver that knockout blow that so many other vintages have given. Perhaps it is saving it for later? Readers should note that there is just 1,113 cases produced rather than the usual 1,870.