x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 299
  • Producer ranking ?

    62
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux tasting. The 2012 Le Petit Cheval has a low-key nose that might be lost in the crowd of its more ostentatious peers, but it is well-defined with beautifully integrated oak, briary and graphite aromas developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, a keen line of acidity and an almost Left Bank finish that deserves a round of applause. Under blind conditions, I was not the only one to give this one of my most positive comments against the "big boys." Not to be underestimated. Tasted January 2016.

Score: 91 Neal Martin, RobertParker.com (227), October 2016

The second wine, the 2012 Le Petit Cheval, is composed of 75% Cabernet Franc and 25% Merlot. Straightforward, elegant, fruity, racy and classy, it lacks a touch of weight, mid-palate depth and length. Nevertheless, there is plenty to like. It should drink nicely upon release and last for a decade thereafter.

Score: 86/88 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (206), April 2013

Close

Vintage 2012

The 2012 Bordeaux vintage report.

The 2012 Bordeaux vintage is a year for vineyard management and workers. Call it a wine makers vintage, or change your tune and name it vineyard managers vintage. Either descriptor works perfectly. The estates with the financial ability to take the necessary actions in the vineyards during the season, coupled with the willingness to severely declassify unripe grapes will produce the best wines.  Even then, it’s going to be a difficult vintage with small quantities of wine.  From start to finish, the growing season and 2012 Bordeaux harvest have been stressful for the vintners, the vines and  with the grapes now in the process of being vinified, the winemakers.

 

The 2012 Bordeaux vintage did not get off to a good start.  Following a cold winter and wet spring, the April rains drenched the Bordeaux wine region.  Following the April rains, there were outbreaks of mildew, which required spraying.  May was warmer than April. Things cooled down a bit again in June.  All this brought on flowering that was late and uneven. That resulted in small bunches with berries that ripened at different times, which brought down the quantities and necessitated in serious work in the vineyards and intensive sorting at harvest.

 

While a growing season is never over until it’s over, uneven flowering is never a good omen.  The lateness in the flowering pushed the entire vintage back 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the chateaux.  Generally speaking, late harvests are not usually harbingers of good things to come.

 

If everything that took place until the end of June didn't offer what happened next offered additional challenges with 2012 Bordeaux vintage. After an average July, Bordeaux experienced a torrid heat spell and drought in August and September that stressed the vines, especially the young vines.  At one point, temperatures soared to 42 degrees Celsius, which is 107 degrees! Other days crossed 100 degrees. It was extremely hot and dry. The vines shut down and the vintage was on track to be even later than originally anticipated. Close to the end of September, things improved due to the much hoped for combination of warm days, cool nights and some desperately needed rain, which helped nourish the vines. The initial days of October offered reasonably warm temperatures during the day, coupled with cooler weather at night for vintners with Merlot ready to pick.

 

In the Medoc, it was hurry up and wait. Tom Petty could have been blasting with “Waiting is The Hardest Part,” because growers needed to wait as the Cabernet Sauvignon was having difficulties ripening.  This was already October. The conventional wisdom says, at some point, there was little to be gained by waiting and more to lose, so the 2012 Bordeaux harvest started taking place.  Some estates began picking young Merlot in late September, but most held back until about October 1, with a few growers waiting another week or longer.  Most producers brought all their fruit in by the middle of October.

 

Pomerol is usually the first appellation to harvest, due to their Merlot dominated vines. Interestingly, picking was taking place simultaneously in the Left Bank on October 1.  Numerous Pessac Leognan properties began their harvest before Pomerol. Chateau Haut Brion began working on their young Merlot vines September 17 and Chateau Haut Bailly was not far behind, with a September 27 start date.  Most chateaux were in the thick of things by October 4, although Domaine de Chevalier held off until October 8.

 

While pleasant, cooler weather was initially forecast to continue, by October 8, things changed quickly when massive amounts of rain dropped over the entire Bordeaux region. With accompanying temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s and higher in some areas, vintners were concerned about the potential of Botrytis, due to the humid, tropical conditions. At that point, the fruit needed to be picked, regardless of the state of maturity.  Similar to what took place last year with the 2011 Bordeaux vintage, ripening was uneven.  It was not just bunches that were not ripening, individual grapes in bunches achieved varying degrees of ripeness which made sorting more important than ever.  Optical sorting was more widely used than ever with the 2012 Bordeaux harvest.

 

2012 Bordeaux could be a year where the dry, white Bordeaux wines shine. The berries were picked in September, under optimum conditions.  Most producers were done harvesting the white wine grapes by September 25. The same cannot be said for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac.  This has been a difficult year for the development of Botrytis, due in part to the cold nights.  With November closing in, most of the top estates were still nervously waiting to harvest.

 

All this adds up to low yields for most producers.  In fact, the French minister of agriculture reported that 2012 would produce the lowest yields since 1991.  It’s interesting to remember previous years like 1991, a vintage that forced some properties to declassify their entire harvest.  With today’s modern technology and vineyard management techniques, vintages like 1991 which produced atrocious wine are a thing of the past.  Bordeaux is not the only European wine region to suffer in 2012.  Across the board, numerous European vineyards experienced difficult conditions.  It was announced that across the board, production of European wines were at their lowest levels since 1975.

 

Generally speaking, low yields are usually a good thing. Low yields produce more concentrated wines. But when low yields are coupled with grapes that did not achieve full, phenolic ripeness, at the end of the day, the only thing vintners are primarily left with is less wine. If the small quantities of wine available to sell are used as an excuse by owners as a reason to raise prices, grapes are not the only thing that will be in short supply.  Customers for their wines will be in an even shorter supply than the wines.

 

2011 Bordeaux has not sold well to consumers. Prices for 2012 Bordeaux wine need to be lower in price than the previous year.  This is healthy for the marketplace in the long run.  Ample stocks of good wines from top years are still available for sale. Consumers can easily find strong Bordeaux wine from 2010, 2009 and even 2005.  There are different vintages for different markets. Some wine buyers prefer more classic or lighter years.  Other wine collectors seek riper, bolder years.  The marketplace welcomes both types of wines and consumers. But each vintage and style needs to be appropriately priced.  Bordeaux should reduce prices on vintages like 2012 and 2011. In turn, there are wine buyers willing to pay more for the best years.

 

Reports from producers on the 2012 Bordeaux harvest have ranged. For the red wines, some were quoted as saying the pulp is ripe, the seeds varied in ripeness, but the skins did not ripen.  In the Left Bank, there are estates that feel their Merlot turned out better than their Cabernet. In the Right Bank, producers in Pomerol and St. Emilion are optimistic about the quality of their 2012 Bordeaux wines.

 

The early reports show lower alcohol levels for the wines than more recent, highly rated, expensive vintages. 2012 Bordeaux wine has the potential to be classic in style, which should please thirsty fans of traditional Bordeaux wine.  While quantities are small, in many cases, it’s not much different than what the chateaux were able to produce in 2011. Many vintners are comparing the 2012 Bordeaux vintage a blend of 2002 and 2008.

Close

Information

Origin

St. Emilion, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Other wines from this producer

Cheval Blanc

Le Petit Cheval Blanc

Highlights

Latest news

WINERY NEWS Château Lynch-Bages / Fabienne Verdier / The motion of matter - Exhibition at Château Lynch-Bages Until 31 October   more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS 100 BEST CHAMPAGNES 2023 / by Champagne Magazine
WINERY NEWS Quinta do Noval / QUINTA DO NOVAL DECLARES 2021 VINTAGE PORT Christian Seely, Managing Director of Quinta do Noval,  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS BWW 2023 - The Best Wine of the World -competition has started! / The 1000 Most Voted Wines
WINERY NEWS Blankiet Estate / Wine Personality of the month!  Claude Blankiet / Proprietor of Blankiet Estate /Yountville,  more ...
WINERY NEWS Méo-Camuzet / The 2020 a very special vintage, which has been bottled, after a few logistical disorders (see   more ...
WINERY NEWS Château Lascombes / Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Château Cos d’Estournel vertical / by Izak Litwar
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS TASTINGBOOK “TASTED” AND RATED 100 TOP WINES FROM BORDEAUX 2022 VINTAGE! / The assessment has been made by the tastingbook's artificial intelligence.
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Novidades in the Port world: / 50 year old Tawny and 50 year old White Port
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS CHAMPAGNE -HALL OF FAME 2022 / by Champagne Magazine and Tastingbook
WINERY NEWS Gaja / Vintage Report 2022 The 2022 vintage was characterized by a constant, wide drought and by an incr  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Gaja's Idda wine project in Sicily? / Tasting with Giovanni Gaja
WINERY NEWS Weingut Robert Weil / A milestone in the history of the Rheingau Riesling dry! 98/100 Points!   "Produced   more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS NEW: TASTINGBOOK PRESENTATION AND INSTRUCTIONS! / tastingbook.info
WINERY NEWS Torbreck / JAMES SUCKLING | OCTOBER 2022 BY TORBRECK VINTNERS By James Suckling, October 2022 www  more ...
WINERY NEWS Bodegas Roda / Bodegas RODA launches its first white wine: RODA I Blanco   The winery from Barrio de   more ...
WINE NEWS: Rare Rose 2012 / Rare Champagne releases Rare Rosé Millésime 2012 & Magnum Millésime 2006   more ...

Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users. or to see wine moments from your world.
Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
Great, a very good choice! Vote now this wine in the BWW 2023 - Best Wine of the World competition?
You will be able to vote again tomorrow
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register
BWW 2023 - Best Wine of the World competition

VOTE NOW FOR YOUR FAVOURITE WINES FOR THE BEST WINE OF THE WORLD -TITLE

 

BWW- The Best Wine of the World 2023 -competition

"We believed the opinion of 10,000 consumers or 1,000 professionals to be more correct and more significant than a small group of wine professionals.”

 

BWW-The Best Wine of the World-competition is by far the toughest wine competition on this planet. Unlike any other industry competition, less than 1% of the wines involved will be awarded. 

BWW is also the largest wine competition: The BWW competition 2021 was held in the world's largest wine information service - tastingbook.com. 21,556 wines received in total 3,569,711 votes from 349,000 wine professionals and wine lovers from 116 countries during the three months voting period.