2012 Rauzan Segla, Super Second Margaux
Very dark ruby; tight pink rim. Bottle ageing for vintage 2012 Rauzan Segla has augmented its complex nose of floral, black cherry, truffle, thyme and black plum aromas (compared to the En Primeur Team tasted back then). Full bodied rich and concentrated, this 2012 Rauzan Seglas is well-liked by us because of its:
Silky smooth tannins and freshness (premium fruit quality, sorting, parcel by parcel vinification, relatively low alcohol at 13.5% still despite higher merlot content used) that lingers on your palate and adds exceptional ripeness to it(higher merlot composition for vintage 2012, manual harvest);
Strong mid-palate intensity good structure(increased to 10,000 vines per hectare, efficient drainage with new drainage system, crop thinning, smaller vats);
High complexity integrated primary, seondary and tertiary tones(4 royal grapes by design);
Power(vinification takes place 35 Celsius for right extraction, malolactic fermentation in smaller vats for fixing even better fruit, wine aged in an average 60% new, French oak barrels for between 18 months hence the richness)
Of course this wine holds a special place amongst veteran importers because John Kolasa the winemaker was and still is a friend to many Hong Kong tasters. He was replaced in 2014 by LVMH's another wine maker.
Priced super effective as a Super Second of Margaux (sic, President Thomas Jefferson of USA), and coupled with the ability to age and develop, and if you like Margaux, this 2012 Rauzan Segla deserves a place in your cellar.
Full decanting one hour+ is recommended. If decanted well, it's virtues come close to frailty, as if silence speaks even more than the sound of music and cadence tells as much as appregios. It is a wine for dining candle light and whispers, accompanied by good dishes and an intimate friend.
Scores are significant and superb. Critical acclaims are as follows:
95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Rauzan Sega may turn out to be as strong an effort as their 2010. A brilliant blend of 54.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot (which accounts for the wine’s ripeness and intensity), and the rest a tiny dollop of 1.5% Petit Verdot, it boasts an inky/blue/purple color as well as gorgeous aromas of black and blue fruits, spring flowers, and hints of background toast and forest floor. Well-integrated wood and acidity as well as moderately ripe tannins make for a medium to full-bodied, expansive, flavorful, rich, well-delineated effort. It will need 3-5 years of bottle age and should drink well for two decades thereafter. (4/2013)
95 points Wine Enthusiast
Barrel sample. This is a chocolate-inflected wine with a full mouth feel, and a very dark character. The palate is concentrated in tannins and a powerful, extracted feel. The aftertaste brings out more black-currant fruitiness. (4/2013)
94 JEFF LEVE Cellar Tracker
With 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37.5% Merlot, 1.5% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the wine reached 13.5% alcohol with a PH of 3.67. Sporting a deep, ruby color, the wine is fresh, sweet, soft and spicy. The ample tannins are silky. There is a polished core of cherries, licorice and cassis in the finish.
93 points James Suckling
Balanced and structured with lots of polished tannins. Full and refined with a lovely core and length. Goes on for a long time. (4/2013)
92 points Wine Spectator
A mix of dark plum, blackberry and fig fruit rumbles along here, with a charcoal note cutting a broad swath. Solid, if a bit blunt in the end, as bittersweet cocoa clamps own on the finish. Went for obvious extraction, and now we have to wait and see if this stretches out in time or stays landlocked by the square tannins. (4/2013)
