Yes, the terminology is confusing, isn't it :-)

There will *never* be a stable 1.3 release - it's the development
branch. OTOH, the 'stable' 1.2 branch will *never* be updated with the
bugfixes and improved functionality from the 1.3 branch.

Development on wine is progressing at a pretty quick pace (a new point
release, on average, every ten days to two weeks) and so it rapidly left
the 1.2 branch behind. Which is why running 1.3 is the recommended
option and, should you report a problem with 1.2 on any of the wine
forums, the first thing you'll be told to do is upgrade to the latest
1.3 release and see if that cures your problem.