2012 Chateau La Vieille Cure Fronsac 750 ml

Parker’s “Outrageously Fine” 2012 Vieille Cure: Anticipated 2015-2027

When Parker’s much-awaited 2012 Bordeaux vintage report (“The Bottled 2012 Bordeaux: 1998, 2001, 2006 - Déjà Vu?”) hit the web in April 2015, importers pounced on the Place de Bordeaux. In less than a week, we were told that one trading company sold thousands of cases of “upgraded” 2012s for over three million euros.

In The Wine Advocate’s list of the top twenty 2012s, all but one (Château Palmer) are located in appellations where earlier-ripening varieties were harvested well before the late-season storms. Parker was particularly impressed with the extraordinary concentration and richness of the Right Bank blends, emphasizing that low yields pushed the envelope on concentration, making for voluptuous St. Emilions, Pomerols, and Fronsacs that often outpointed even the 98-point 2010 vintage.

If Pape Clement (97 points/$100), Haut-Brion (98pts/$500), and Ausone (96+/$700) were the big winners in the updated vintage report, a tiny property in Fronsac, Vieille Cure, was the Cinderella story. Parker was wowed by the 2012 Vieille Cure calling it “an outrageously fine wine” and a “major sleeper of the vintage,” and most incredibly, suggesting that the drop-dead bargain of 2012 will hit its peak sometime in 2027!

$29.99 per bottle on cases and (emphatically) yes, if you’re a Napa Valley or Bordeaux collector or enthusiast, this is a MUST case buy. 600 bottles are up for grabs, each drawn directly from the cellar in Fronsac.