2012 North America

Bottles of this product are discounted by 20%. Price shown includes saving.

Bottles of this product are discounted by 10%. Price shown includes saving.

Bottles of this product are discounted by 10%. Price shown includes saving.

Reticent and tight at first on the nose, the wine opens up to reveal dark, small-berried cassis fruit, fruits of the forest and wet stone. The palate is the essence of power and elegance, like a giant slalom skier – elegant, suave in form, yet with great power and strength. The palate is full of minerality, with black and red fruit, and an iron or pepper-like spiciness. This has great acidity at the front and tensile tannins – ripe yet tight and huge, boding very well for its future development. One can almost see the remoteness and wildness of this unique vineyard, in terms of the wine’s strength and brooding darkness, yet at the same time an almost effortless, wistful, cerebral quality. For me, it has a distinct personality and sense of place, hints of Napa in the fruit and yet the structure reminded me of the strength and iron core so often found in the likes of Ch. Latour versus its other First Growth Bordeaux peers. Much like some of the world’s finest and most complex wines, this is a wine made on the edge of what is possible, truly expressive of its surroundings, opening and closing over its evolution, flirting with perfection. It’s something very special. It’ll be hard to resist over the next few years, but this has the stuffing to last very easily over the next decade or so. Drink 2027-35+.
Stuart Rae, Fine Wine Commercial Manager 

Returning to my original tasting notes, it is clear I must have been utterly captivated by the 2012 Promontory. Descriptors referencing black forest gâteaux, macerated blueberries and baking spices of all kind were scribbled with haste to capture the character of the wine before the next intriguing layer unfurled. On reflection, my initial excitement remains palpable, what a truly glorious offering. The precision and purity on the nose is remarkable, a crystalline clarity like you’re smelling in high definition, there’s lots of everything but not too much of anything. Cherry and blackcurrant fruit is rich and dense, but held in check by granite and cool stone. Left in the glass, a cooling freshness persists. So fine is the interplay of lustrous berries and svelte, silky tannins that, for a red of such grand proportions, it seems almost refreshing. All before a finish that lasts an age. Outstanding and a real joy to drink, an experience any wine lover should aspire to.
Jared Ehret, Private Account Manager

There is an abundance of bright cassis fruit initially on the nose, definitely an Opus signature, with charcoal and spice from the French oak mingling in the background. The palate has plenty of ripe black fruit but this is not at all overworked or overripe, showing its Bordelais pedigree. There is a streak of freshness underpinning the wine, which along with beautiful, silky tannins make this one to forget in the cellar for a decade.
Fergus Stewart - Private Account Manager

Bright in colour and swathes of Cassis, Damson and Blueberry fruit on the nose with hints of flint and mineralite in the background. A richly textured palate with an abundance of juicy dark berried fruit tempered by the sensibility of Mocha, espresso bean and smoke. The tannins are lush and melded tightly into the wine with a great acidity that gives it a beautiful lift.
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager

A thrilling Pinot Noir that comes from a 13.8-acre vineyard planted in 1975 on mostly on limestone, at an elevation of 2,200 feet, the 2012 Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard was harvested September 24 to October 21 and was aged 16 months in 30% new French oak. It offers a dark ruby color to go with a big, sweet nose of cranberry, wild strawberries, crushed flowers, forest floor and spice.

Full-bodied, layered and elegant, with a supple, rounded and sexy texture, it packs plenty of fruit, yet is graceful, beautifully balanced and seamless. It's hard to resist now, yet should cruise for a decade in the cellar.
96/100 Jeb Dunnucke, RobertParker.com #220 Aug 2015

Deeper and richer than the Jensen, the blockbuster-style 2012 Pinot Noir Selleck Vineyard comes from vines planted in 1975 and wasn't harvested until October 4. A big, rich, layered Pinot Noir that offers tight, reserved notes of blackcurrants, truffle, crushed rocks, forest floor and sassafras, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, beautiful acidity and building, fine tannin that come through on the awesome finish. With air, it turns more and more mineral-laced and earthy, showing even a touch of gaminess.

This beauty has terrific depth and richness without ever being over the top. Still a baby, give it a few years in the cellar, and enjoy bottles over the following decade. Bravo to Josh Jenson for this smokin' effort!
98/100 Jeb Dunnuck eRobertParker.com #220 Aug 2015

Bottles of this product are discounted by 10%. Price shown includes saving.

It is not often that I am this mesmerised by the scent of a wine, so much so that the aromatics are almost enough to satisfy.  Dark cherry, black plum, blackberries, cacao, smoke, blueberries sage, all wrapped up in fine grained oak.

Thankfully the palate is just as good, with more of the same plus dark raspberry, blackcurrant, liquorice and vanilla. The beautifully balanced acidity is super refreshing, the power is restrained and the classical elegance is apparent. This has all of the old world restrain, structure and age ability that you could desire. As one of the great Cabernet Sauvignons of America, it is certainly capable of aging for 8-15 years.
Laura Atkinson-Godwin, Private Account Manager

Stag's Leap Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably good enough to be most serious wineries top bottling as on first tasting it is hard to see where Christophe Paubert can go to improve on it. Through the wine he demonstrates the gentle yet assured touch of a true artisan with the plump, upfront fleshy fruits coupled with velvetine rose petals and a hint of pot-pouri derived in part from the oak.

Tending towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum there is still a definite red/black raspberry freshness that counterbalances the gloriously chocolatey tannins and hides a moderately dense core. A broad mouth feel from start to finish and a wine that delivers instant satisfaction. Wine craftsmanship at its highest level. Drink now to 2025.
Peter Newton, Private Account Manager

Lokoya is a collection of four distinct Cabernet Sauvignons from four of Napa Valley’s most celebrated mountain appellations. These single-vineyard wines, made in very limited quantities, are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented with native yeast, and bottled unfined and unfiltered—resulting in the purest expression of place. They are powerful wines that reflect the intense individuality of each mountain.

2012 was a textbook vintage in Napa. Above average warmth and sunshine, but with no major heat spikes to damage the crop. September and October saw some fine weather allowing the Cabernets to ripen perfectly on the vine with little disease pressure. Classically Californian in style, these are rich, concentrated wines that will reward extended cellaring, all in all, a great vintage.

Cardinale and Lokoya, two of the top names in California are part of the Artisan & Estates portfolio of Jackson Family Wines, a collection of independently run premium wineries, each owned by the late Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke. Their vision is to make luxury wines from some of the great wine growing regions of the world.

In California, over 95% of Jackson Family’s Wine’s vineyards are located on mountains, ridges, hillsides and ‘benches’ where the vine has to struggle to survive because of the poor soils and the harsher conditions. This struggle shows in the quality of the final wines produced. Higher elevation and proximity to the ocean both play crucial roles in moderating temperatures, resulting in greater flavour, concentration and balance in the wines. All of the wines of both Lokoya and Cardinale are made by the talented Chris Carpenter.

Chris’s vision is to keep the properties separate, with Lokoya expressing the details of each of the cool Mountain sites, whereas Cardinale is viewed as a symphony of all the constituent parts.

The wine is lemon-fresh with the rapier-like acidity of the Russian River Valley. The citrus-dominated fruit profile is complemented by a hint of nutty almond and white peach alongside the merest whiff of elegantly integrated oak. Puligny-like in its intensity, the subtle flavour builds and builds in the mouth to a wonderful crescendo leaving a fine, pure, long mineral finish with a refreshing zing. Still a little tight, this is extremely impressive already but would benefit from further ageing to show its true potential. This is a wonderful addition to David Ramey’s brilliant portfolio, and we are delighted that it is exclusive to Berry Bros. & Rudd in the UK. 

The 2012 Woolsey Road is Ramey’s first release from this wonderful site in the Russian River Valley. The vineyard is owned by the Martinelli Family, who have been growing grapes there since the 1880s, and was planted to Ramey’s specification in 2007. The soil is a sandstone-based ‘Goldbridge’ loam full of old ocean deposits and does not contain much organic matter, hence the vigour of the vine is low, and the fruit quality exceptional.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer

David Ramey’s 2012 Woolsey Chardonnay is the first time this vineyard has been seen on a Ramey label – this is exciting wine.
As the vines for Woolsey were sourced from plantings in the highly respected Hyde vineyard one should have lofty expectations here, but in short these were thoroughly exceeded.  Made in a traditional Burgundy fashion this has a cool, refined and elegant nose which shows notes of tense citrus fruit, a tweak of lime zest and even gooseberries. This is multifaceted from the very start. On the palate this shows great complexity, a trace of oak frames the pure and persistent yellow plum, ripe apple characters. There is a distinctive Puligny taste and feel to this wine, orange blossom and fragrant pea weaves through the palate.

2012 was a textbook vintage in Napa. Above average warmth and sunshine, but with no major heat spikes to damage the crop. September and October saw some fine weather allowing the Cabernets to ripen perfectly on the vine with little disease pressure. Classically Californian in style, these are rich, concentrated wines that will reward extended cellaring, all in all, a great vintage.

Inglenook was established in the top-rated Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley in 1879 by a Finnish sea captain, Gustave Niebaum. After a chequered history, which included the winery shutting down during prohibition, the estate regained its original reputation for producing very fine wine during the 1940s when it was owned by John Daniel. Now owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola he has brought on board a smorgasbord of talent in the guise of viticulturist Stephane Derenoncourt and winemaker Philippe Bascaules, from Chateau Margaux.