Château Haut-Bages Libéral 2012

The 2012 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 85/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A late cycle closing with rain gave an uneven vintage: the cabernets hold up, the merlots remain taut.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

The nose is complex with notes of cassis, smoky and a hint of cedar. The mouth is also fruity with a slightly spicy touch and show an admirable roundness. An expressive, voluptuous wine with fine, freshness, and a beautiful aromatic persistence. This 2012 vintage is a pretty nice classic of Château Haut-Bages Libéral.

The vintage

In 2012, after an especially difficult Spring and beginning of Summer, the weather conditions were very favorable for the plants from mid-July. Indeed, the Winter was very cold and dry, with an important deficit of rainfall. When the temperatures became warmer at the end of Winter, the budburst began but was long, which resulted in a heterogeneity especially for the merlot. The phenological shift also delayed the flowering, which was very disrupted by rainfall. At the berry set, there was sagging of the merlot and the yields were rather low. Generally, Spring was very wet with a heavy pressure of mildew. Prophylaxis and the balance of the vines played an important role in the control of fungal diseases. The rains stopped in mid-July for more than 2 months, which is extremely rare.

From this date, more favorable temperatures allowed to catch up but the high temperatures of August and especially the lack of water locally slowed the ripening of the young vines that do not have a sufficiently developed root system. Finally, in late September rainfall led to the development of the skin and accelerated the maturation. We started the harvest on October 1st to end on October 10th, 2012. But we had to hurry to get healthy harvest because the rains came back on October 7th.

The distribution of the harvest on the foot (low yields) and the good condition of the vineyard, combining with a very precise work of sorting, were capital to optimize the quality of the vintage. Quickly, the merlot showed a remarkable flesh that we haven't tasted for a long time. As the cabernet sauvignon, they did not disappoint us and were faithful to our land of Médoc. They are soft and rich of elegance. We will have powerful wines, tender and digestible. 2012 is a very good vintage and many successes are waiting for us ahead.

Blend of the 2012 vintage

Figures from the 2012 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 35 yrsVine age
• 100,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Traditional in stainless and concrete vats, whose volumes are proportional to the plots.

Ageing

In oak barrels during 16 months. 40% of new oak.

Terroir

The vineyard covers 30 hectares, half of which are located around the property, adjoining Château Latour. The other part of the vineyard is on the Bages plateau, in the south of Pauillac. The estate's plots are located in 2 areas, one made up of deep gravels and the other of clay-limestone and chalky limestone. This type of soil gives the wine its power and its mineral character. A large part of its fine deep-gravel land overlooks the Gironde estuary. These gravels were carried down by the river from the Pyrenees during the Quaternary era. They rest on a limestone bedrock.