Tasting Wine Spectator's Top 10 Wines of 2012

(WS) - The Top 10 Tasting is always a globetrotting affair—the top wines of 2012 hailed from Italy, Argentina, California, Oregon, Australia and France—but this time there was a twist. The top four wines of 2012 came from different regions but shared one distinction: the Rhône connection.

“This is a real mind-boggling display of what Rhône wines can do around the world,” senior editor James Molesworth told the audience. While Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre dominated the lineup, other varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Malbec, Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc still got their due. All 10 wines represented the “cream of the crop” in 2012, said senior editor Bruce Sanderson.

This year's Top 10 tasting was divided into two parts, each concluding the Friday and Saturday seminars. To start off, Argentine winemaker Santiago Achával poured his dark, layered Achával-Ferrer Malbec Mendoza Finca Bella Vista 2010, (95 points, $120, No 10). Tuscany's Paolo Bianchini offered Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino 2007 (94, $60, No. 9) but remained in the audience, allowing importer Mollie Lewis of Indigenous Selections to express gratitude on his behalf in more polished English.

The American contingent included winemaker Laurie Hook, whose Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley Reserve 2009 (94, $45) placed No. 8, showing that top-quality California Cabernet can be made at a reasonable price. Next, Oregon’s Dick Shea discussed the Shea Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Shea Vineyard Estate 2009 (94, $40, No. 7). “I only intended to be a grower,” Shea said, “but I woke up one morning and told my wife I wanted to make wine. She said, ‘That’s crazy,’ but not in those words.”

The diversity of Bordeaux showed itself with two wines: Château Guiraud Sauternes 2009 (96, $60, No. 5), the finale of the first tasting, and Château Léoville Barton St.-Julien 2009 (95, $105, No. 6), which kicked off the second. Guiraud winemaker Xavier Planty told the crowd that the 2009 “is a good example of the sort of wine I want to make. With great Sauternes, you don’t have the sugar at the end of the mouth.” Co-owner Lilian Barton Sartorius drew a chuckle from the audience when she said Bordeaux tries to make “the vintage of the century every year.” She added, “In 2009, I think we succeeded.”