2012 Charmes Chambertin
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Tasting notes
Bright, deep red. The nose shows a liqueur-like quality to the aromas of cherry, raspberry and mocha. Big, broad and sweet, delivering excellent dimension and depth and considerable power. The rich red fruit, coffee and cocoa powder flavors carry well on the sweet, very long finish, which is nicely shaped by the wine's tanic spine. This is less taut than it appeared to be from barrel a year ago, but it needs time to burn off some of its baby fat.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Bright, dark red. Expressive, captivating aromas of dark cherry, raspberry, violet, rose petal and minerals. Very rich and sweet, but with excellent mineral grip and energy to the pliant flavors of red fruits and flowers. Most impressive today on the rising, very long finish. Boasts a rare combination of richness and inner-mouth tension.
Fleshy, round and supple, the 2012 Charmes-Chambertin is one of the most open and accessible of the 2012s today. Layers of deeply-pitched dark fruit flesh out in a powerful yet gracious, totally exquisite wine. Here it is the wine's soft contours and inviting personality that leave a long, lasting impression.
The 2012 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru comes from Claudes’ 0.25-hectare parcel of vines. It has a strong marine influence on the nose that is well defined and expressive, carrying and absorbing the new oak with ease. The palate is medium-bodied with a satin-like texture, very well judged acidity and the new oak beautifully interwoven into the intense sorbet-fresh fruit on the harmonious finish. This is one of the finest wines from this vineyard. Six months after tasting his 2011s, I return to Claude Dugat to taste through his 2012s that he mentioned would soon be bottled. There was no point in retreading over the travails of the growing season. Claude said that he commenced the harvest on 17 or 18 September (he could not remember exactly which) and chaptalized the wines up to about half a degree. This was a splendid array of wines. Occasionally I feel that there could be a preponderance of new oak that can submerge the terroir, but in 2012 I discerned the oak to be beautifully assimilated and indeed, this was one of the finest set of wines I have tasted at the domaine since I first visited to sample Claude’s 2005s. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, New York City; tel. (212) 239-1275.