2012 Rd V Vineyards Rendezvous
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Tasting notes
57% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot. Blackish ruby. Very warm, welcoming, enveloping nose. Then with real lift and something – dare I say? – mineral on the palate. Very sweet but not heavy. Quite accessible. Tastes older than four years old. This has a slightly charred element but is not at all dense in terms of structure. With its warm earthiness, sweetness and light tannins, it rather reminds me of a cross between a mature St-Émilion and an Alto Piemonte Nebbiolo! It is very, very different in style and potential longevity from the grand vin, Lost Mountain, and indeed is arguably more distinctive. (JR)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Mark Squires
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Rendezvous leans more to the Right Bank of Bordeaux in style than the Lost Mountain's Left Bank. This is a blend of 57% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 9% Petit Verdot. It is a different style–more approachable, fruitier, a little less backward. That doesn't mean it is any worse. In this vintage, I actually preferred it to the Lost Mountain (slightly), while noting that the Lost Mountain is probably on a different aging curve and not yet as developed. Here, though, it's all about the fruit. More expressive and rounder than the 2012 Lost Mountain bottling reviewed this issue, this is completely delicious, if less powerful, leaning more to the hedonism side of the scale. It should still hold well and develop more with age, but it is pretty good now, too.