2012 Clos Vougeot Vieilles Vignes

Bright, dark red. Tight on the nose, with black cherry, mineral and mocha flavors lifted by nuances of pepper and flowers. Very sweet and deep but reserved; even less accessible than the cuvée classique but showing terrific clarity of fruit. Best today on the very long, savory back end, which features suave tannins and pepper and saline elements.

The 2012 Clos de Vougeot Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru will be bottled around early June. It has an attractive, generous, almost sumptuous bouquet with raspberry, crushed strawberry and a judicious veneer of vanillary oak that lends it a modern sheen. The palate is medium-bodied with fine structure. There is plenty of ripe, sappy red fruit locked in here, but it feels a little compact, suggesting that it will need two or three years in bottle. But it certainly has very good potential. Drink 2017-2030. The wines from Chateau de la Tour have not been reviewed by this publication for years, principally because during the 1990s, quality trailed off. However, I have been noticing an upswing in recent vintages, in no small part due to the efforts of Francois Labat and his team that tend the 5.48 hectares of vine, including the single hectare planted in 1910, part of which is separated and released as a Vieilles Vignes. Their vines have been farmed organically since 1992 and Francois opts to prune hard early in the season rather than undertaking a green harvest, usually with whole-cluster, natural ferments. Approximately 50% new wood is used for the Cuvee Classique, while the Vieilles Vignes is raised entirely in new oak. Francois’s 2012s are well-worth checking out. This historic clos is notoriously fickle when it comes to quality, some growers producing astonishing wines and others trading on the name. Chateau de la Tour once might have been guilty of doing that, but these two wines suggest that this is no longer the case. Importer: Scott Paul Wines, Carlton, OR; tel. (503) 852-7300; and also through Berry Brothers & Rudd in the UK.

Mocha dominates dark ripe damson fruit. Pretty oaky on the palate, without quite enough flesh to fill it out. Firm and grainy tannins. Maybe it will take on flesh and the oak will subside? (JH)