2012 vs. 2013 in SA

[Hacker]

I have noted on Winefront that Gary, whose palate and independence I admire, has nominated some 2013 reds above 2012 on a few occasions in his reviews. Now from what I have heard and read, 2012 was described as a 'generational' vintage, if that descriptor fits, so arguably better than 1990-91, 1996, 1998, and all through the 2000's. And now potentially along comes another vintage to succeed, or at least equal that. I'm not doubting any of this, just looking for opinions from those at ground level what they think of 2013, because it may alter my spending pattern. Might save some dosh for '13 reds whereas I would have used them for the otherwise brilliant '12s.

Any thoughts guys?

[Panda 9D]

I'm not at ground level but a couple of the winemakers I import have told me 2013 is the year for Grenache.

[Chuck]

It's about time sa had a good run of good to excellent vintages. Apart from 11 and maybe 09 there have been some great wines from excellent growing seasons. WA had a good run too. Word from the vineyard is watch out for 14 in Margaret river.

[n4sir]

I have noted on Winefront that Gary, whose palate and independence I admire, has nominated some 2013 reds above 2012 on a few occasions in his reviews. Now from what I have heard and read, 2012 was described as a 'generational' vintage, if that descriptor fits, so arguably better than 1990-91, 1996, 1998, and all through the 2000's. And now potentially along comes another vintage to succeed, or at least equal that. I'm not doubting any of this, just looking for opinions from those at ground level what they think of 2013, because it may alter my spending pattern. Might save some dosh for '13 reds whereas I would have used them for the otherwise brilliant '12s.

Any thoughts guys?

Put simply, at this early stage I'd say no, especially the bolded bit.

For openers, you can strike off any SA reds picked in February (particularly early February). For all intents, 2013 was a drought year in SA - yields were miserable, the wines will be lower in alcohol and quite pretty early on, but there's just too much in common with 2007 for my liking.

The 2012 vintage on paper had the best growing conditions since 2004, but for someone to already say they will be better than 2004 (let alone 1990, 1991, 1996 & 1998) is premature. So far I've tried some good ones, and some frankly disappointing ones lacking fruit which already suggests some picked way too early. I'll reserve my judgement based on what I try over the next twelve months.

Cheers,
Ian

[thecoonagoona]

The following is my personal view and relatively limited to the Limestone Coast.
I find that there are similarities between the 12/13 and the 06/08 vintages (for a recent example)
08 and 12 are highly hyped, and a lot of the wines are bigger (Alcohol and fruit wise) than the 06 and 13.
However....I feel that these bigger riper styles (for a lack of better descriptors) will not have the legs cellar wise that the 06 has already shown, and the 13 should do so.
A lot of 08's (and some 12's) I have seen lately, tend to be a bit flabby and do not exude that leaner acid and lineal structure that 06 (and I believe 13) have, which in my eyes denotes that they will not survive longevity well. Bear in mind that this view is aimed primarily at Cabernet and Coonawarra in particular.
The 09 vintage also fits in with 06 and 13, albeit with more greener tannins in a lot of wines, but the structure is still there.
A lot of the problem is that with vintage reports being compiled by marketing and Vignerons associations, every vintage is the best and any facet that can be harnessed to reflect this is deemed as good. This also plays into the hands of people and companies that want to push ready to drink now wines from an area like Coonawarra, which as we know tend to need more cellar time to hit their straps. These market forces have caused a shift in a lot of winemaking practices, which have resulted in the bigger fruity higher alcohol wines at lower price points in particular. The more traditional styles that will age long term are primarily now at the higher end of the scale. I know this is a bit of a tangent, but I feel it is relative to good/bad vintage thing.
There are vineyards that will deliver year in year out, even in average years like 07 and 11 (for Coonawarra).
The better vintages from this region to me are the slightly leaner cooler years (Talking predominately January to April period) where the acidity and in turn structure becomes the key to the wine's character, and the classic subtle Cabernet flavours become apparent rather than over ripe fruit and alcohol.
So I guess in summary (after that ramble) don't believe the hype in some area's until things settle down. Not very helpful if you are looking at buying wine now however.
And I can guarantee you that almost anyone you ask, will tell you the best vintage to buy is the one they have on offer for sale at that particular point in time.
So in relation to Coonawarra, it depends on what your preferred style from the region is, as to which Vintage you buy.
Personally I would go with 13 (based on what I have seen and my preference for laying it down for years).
Or we could break the regions vintages down into sub regions and how they performed, which is another can of worms.......

[n4sir]

The 2012 vintage on paper had the best growing conditions since 2004, but for someone to already say they will be better than 2004 (let alone 1990, 1991, 1996 & 1998) is premature. So far I've tried some good ones, and some frankly disappointing ones lacking fruit which already suggests some picked way too early. I'll reserve my judgement based on what I try over the next twelve months.

Two other very plausible (and probably more likely) reasons to consider for the disappointing 2012 wines I have tried:

A significant portion may have been used in an attempt to prop up some 2011 wines just to get a release that vintage - the old up to 15% rule, it can make for a bit of wine.

The other obvious reason is the proportion of fruit going into flagship and/or one-off wines that we may not see for another year or two - these may very well be the one in a generation wines hinted at in the opening post, but until they are available to try any real judgements about the vintage should be reserved.

Cheers,
Ian