Vintage
2012
Warm
Frost, hail and a tiny crop of great Pinot Noir
Deep winter cold, five nights of spring frost, a wet flowering, record hail in the Côte des Bar and an August heatwave. A small crop, but ripe and structured wines, with Pinot Noir the star.
The harvest
−20.9 °C at Reims on 4 February. Frost on five nights from April to May. About ten hailstorms, the worst on 7 June in the Côte des Bar. Actual yield about 9,000 kg/ha, the smallest since 2003. Drappier's smallest crop since 1957.
Log in to read the full vintage
From the archive
Pierre Paillard Les Mottelettes 2012
Light tones of maturity show here, carried by a lovely concentration, with clear notes of baked citrus and citrus blossom alongside them.
Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Louis Salmon 2012
The nose is rich, and nicely balanced between ripe fruit, mature notes of ageing, autolytic character and a fantastic minerality.
Billecart-Salmon Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2012
A stunning salmon-pink colour. The nose is complex, with ripe red berries — wild strawberry and garden strawberry — alongside a clear note of blood orange and citrus blossom.