2012 Monthelie Les Duresses
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Tasting notes
(the yield here was just 15 hectoliters per hectare, according to Lafon, who cut back on his number of punchdowns in 2012): Good deep red. The aromas of blackberry and bitter chocolate show a Syrah-like ripeness. Quite dense and concentrated for this bottling, conveying an extractive quality to its dark fruit and bitter chocolate flavors that may simply be a function of the wine's freakish concentration. Substantial tannins will require at least four or five years of cellaring.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
(just 7-1/2 barrels made, vs. a normal 20; this fruit was picked with 11.7% potential alcohol): Good dark red. Aromas of black cherry and bitter chocolate complicated by leather and earth notes. Juicy and bright in the mouth, with bitter cherry and licorice flavors showing a slight dry edge on the back end.
Dark red and purple fruit, menthol, tar and spice notes all meld together in the 2012 Monthélie Les Duresses, a wine that stands out for its sheer density. Broad and ample on the palate, the Monthelie has plenty of vintage 2012 richness. In 2012 there are just 7 barrels of the Monthélie as compared to the more customary 15-20.
30-year-old vines. Badly hailed, half the normal production. Very dark crimson. Smells very ripe and dense and rich and even smells as though there is some oak influence but my sample came from a five-year-old barrel(!). Lively but much much darker and denser than I was expecting. Exciting finish. (JR)