Described variously as weird, roller coaster, irregular, a dream, a miracle, complicated, shocker, hell... the 2012 vintage at least cannot be described as unremarkable. Jancis writes a bird's eye view in The wine lake is decisively drained, and here is our guide to the detailed reports written by insiders stationed in regions all round the world.
Pictured above left is Klaus Peter Keller's photo of the Nierstein vineyard with the river Rhine below ending the vintage in a blaze of glory, taken at the end of October this year.
FRANCE IN GENERAL
France's vintage 2012 so far (Inside information) 9 Aug 2012 by Yohan CastaingBORDEAUX
End in sight at last (Free for all) by Gavin Quinney, 17 Oct 2012Done and dusted at Sours (Inside information) by Martin Krajewski, 15 Oct 2012
Almost the end for Sours (Inside information) by Martin Krajewski, 8 Oct 2012
The Late Show (Free for all) by Gavin Quinney, 5 Oct 2012
Coping with the rain (Inside information) by Martin Krajewski, 1 Oct 2012
Trouble ahead? (Inside information) by Martin Krajewski, 24 Sep 2012
The heat continues (Inside information) by Martin Krajewski, 20 Sep 2012
Late baked (Inside information) by Jancis Robinson & Martin Krajewski, 17 Sep 2012
Early pickings (Free for all) by Martin Krajewski, 3 Sep 2012
Scorching summer, but no rush (Inside information) by Gavin Quinney, 23 Aug 2012
BURGUNDY
A difficult birth (Free for all) by Aubert de Villaine, 14 Nov 2012Hanson on the Hospices' beautiful babies (Free for all) by Anthony Hanson MW, 14 Nov 2012
Two strategies (Inside information) by Yohan Castaing, 8 Oct 2012
'What a shocker' (Inside information) by Gareth Skidmore, 26 Sep 2012
'Horrifically low crop'? (Free for all) by Mark Haisma, 15 Aug 2012
And now it's hail (Inside information) by Jancis Robinson, 3 Jul 2012
So far (Inside information) by Gareth Skidmore, 26 Jun 2012
RHÔNE
Smiles and a storm in the Rhône (Inside information) by Jancis Robinson, 12 Sep 2012LANGUEDOC
Vintage 2012 in the Languedoc (Inside information) by Graham Nutter, 1 Nov 2012GERMANY
Germany 2012 – another miracle? (Inside information) by Michael Schmidt, 22 Nov 2012SPAIN
Spain 2012 – 'weird' (Inside information) by Luis Gutiérrez, 12 Nov 2012ITALY
Italy 2012 – hell’s kitchen (Inside information) by Walter Speller, 13 Nov 2012US IN GENERAL
America's 2012 vintage (Inside information) by Linda Murphy, 4 Oct 2012CALIFORNIA
California 2012 ‘perfect’, but how? (Alder on America) by Alder Yarrow, 17 Oct 2012Prices and politics in California's 2012 harvest (Alder on America) by Alder Yarrow, 18 Sep 2012
VIRGINIA
Virginia 2012 – relief (Inside information) by Jim Law, 15 Nov 2012
