2022 Bordeaux – The Vintage and The Wines

Virtually every château I visited during my week in Bordeaux led with a defense against the obvious objection to 2022: “Of course by now you know that 2022 was a very hot year, with drought conditions, but…”, and a big focus on the ‘but’. That ‘but’ seems to be a very positive one however – many 2022s offer an almost perplexing, paradoxical level of freshness. The best wines of the vintage offer high-wire act level balance, combining super intensity of fruit, enticingly exotic-edged fragrance, and surprisingly reasonable PH levels, and expressions of freshness. When I met with Christian Moueix in Libourne, he was unequivocal – this is a great vintage, “even greater than 1982, because of the low yield”. Did the tough, dry conditions favour some terroirs over others?, I wondered. He paused, and considered my question before answering - “In theory in these conditions clay or limestone are favoured, but in practice no”, he said, followed by a broad smile.

Alcohol levels are on the high side in 2022. We are talking above 14% alcohol by volume (ABV) in most cases, and there were some grands vins made in 2022 at 15%. Take a pause now and let that number sink in. Fifteen. (Where possible I have included the alcohol levels with my tasting notes). The second element in the 2022 style is that due to a lack of water, and intense heat, berries were small, and the ratio between skins (aromas, flavours, tannins) and juice was low. In other words it was easy to extract a lot from less, and easy to achieve concentration. 2022 has the potential for intense aroma and fruit, but also formidable levels of tannin. Nonetheless, many château seemed to get extractions right. The pendulum has been moving in this ‘easy-does-it’ direction style-wise for some years now, and I was really pleased to see elegance in wines like Pape Clément and Angelus for instance. Others made wine with a ‘classical’ sort of extraction. Wines like Ducru-Beaucaillou and Léoville Las Cases seem almost brutal in their structure, and left me scratching my head a little. Both feel like they have a chance of turning out brilliantly, but it is difficult to tell beneath the sheer cloak of tannin. In any case they will require long cellaring, and this is worth noting. Indeed, Léoville Las Cases write in their primeurs booklet – ‘This 2022 vintage reminds us of the 1870’. I have not tasted Las Cases 1870, but over the years I have tried 1870 Lafite, 1870 Gruaud Larose and 1870 Mouton amongst others – all are still rich and structured in the 21st century! They would have been a challenge to taste from cask!! These days however, as customers, we are used to drinking windows that begin earlier. So, read references to tannin and structure in tasting notes (mine and others’) carefully if this is not for you, even if the wines will amaze your great grandchildren.

In some cases these two factors  - alcoholic heat exacerbated by rich tannins – dominate in the wines. There is a real feeling of intensity, density, but not the lushness of real fruit, especially mid-palate, to balance. Not much fun.

But where all this was managed well, and the secret to 2022 was there – freshness – some real Bordeaux magic is on offer in 2022. This is not a relentlessly ripe and sweet baked vintage. There’s real vivacity. Think of it more as a supercharged year.

Why in a year of heat and drought is there such freshness? I heard many different explanations, some contradictory between châteaux, but here are some key points. At Château Lafleur, Omri Ram pointed to three factors that distinguish 2022 from other hot years. Firstly, there was good rainfall in November and December 2021, ensuring some moisture reserves for 2022. This was followed by a ‘real winter’, giving the vines a break. Then, when the vines woke up in the Spring, 2022 was already into drought conditions, an important signal for the vines which put energy into root systems. Leaf production was not excessive, and bunches were smaller. There were ten nights of frost in March/April, but there was little damage, there was one incident of hail (at a small part of Grand Village), but after that the vintage was quite linear, with very little disease pressure, and fruit at harvest was in very good health.

Thomas Burke, at Château Margaux echoed Ram’s comments that this was a “relatively easy vintage, with no frost, no hail, no disease pressure.” There was very little rain – 340mm. The heat and drought delivered incredibly small berries (the lowest weight berries in 20 years), and consequently the yields were low – 25hl/ha. The wine was dense and ripe, with lots of concentration and tannin (highest tannins level ever), but the surprise at the estate was how round and soft the tannins were. “Something unique happened – the freshness. When we look at the PH level of 2022, it’s even lower than in 2021. It’s a paradox.” “Why?” – someone asked during our visit. Burke replied “We don’t know. Everyone has ideas why it is this way, and we love to talk about those ideas, but in truth it is probably a number of factors, but we don’t know. But taste the wines and see for yourself.” To my palate, Château Margaux is something close to the archetype 2022, in the best sense – it is straight and structured in a way that reminds me of their 1986, but with finer, softer tannins, even more freshness (in a more 1996 direction), and the sort of precision we have only really seen in the past decade or less.

Were there district winners and losers? I missed too many châteaux to be more definitive in answering this question. It doesn’t seem like a bank vs bank, Cabernet vs Merlot sort of year. Rather it seems like a year in which terroir was important, and the quality of work and decisions were critical. I had hoped for more from Graves than I saw, but I couldn’t tell you why that is. Otherwise I saw exceptional examples everywhere (and disappointments). Perhaps it is not a memorable year for whites, though there were some very good ones (Pape Clement, Chevalier, and Pavillon Blanc), and I think generally the style of the (well-made) Sauternes is in the fuller style we actually go for less these days (bolder, heavier).

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My Usual Caveats

In an ideal world I would taste from a wider range of châteaux, re-taste key wines on different days, and spend 3-4 weeks at this. My notes were made over a single week, brilliantly choreographed and hosted by my friend and négocient, Manu, and this report is the result of that very intense week. (Unfortunately, I had to miss some appointments this year).

I have been tasting en primeur for a number of years, and that affords a sort of ‘tasting calibration’ that can take into account the tender age of the wines. Wines that are only a few months old can be very tricky to judge, and score ranges and impressions – from anyone – should be treated as a rough guide to what we might expect in bottle. Some are almost opaque – if not in colour, in what they reveal about themselves at this embryonic stage. If I find a wine hard to judge I try to express that in the note, and give a wider score range too.

Wines also ‘move around’ a lot at this stage of their life. A week or two can make a big difference, but also tasting a cool sample on a wet cool morning at a UGC (or other group) tasting on one day, and a fairly warm sample, on a hot stuffy afternoon in a warm château salon on another can make a big difference (note, unfortunately, Châteaux d’Issan and Brane-Cantenac, suffered the latter – those wines may prove far better than the impressions they gave on the day, but I cannot write a note based on something imagined).

But I would therefore read more into a really positive tasting note and score than a negative one. Style is as important a consideration as score. A high score doesn’t mean you will like the wine, and a moderate score might be given to a very good one that is right in the groove of what you actually enjoy. Read the descriptions carefully, and read from a variety of sources. (This is general advice when reading other people’s tasting notes anyway).

Consider prices carefully when the offers come out. Most fine Bordeaux is nonetheless made in plentiful quantities, so it is not rare wine. We are fortunate to be living in a time when châteaux are making the best quality wines they have ever made, and we have had a number of recent successful vintages. When 2022s are released, look at other recent vintages for the same wines – read reviews, look at prices for those wines. Because you are buying 2022s as futures, they should look like a good deal today, compared to recent comparable quality vintages that are physically available for immediate delivery.

That said, it is my personal view that in today’s market top quality Bordeaux offers very good value for money. Price is a question of market sentiment, but for quality in the bottle, I think there is amazing value available, especially in the tier right behind all the first growths.

I do think though that 2022 deserves a place in all Bordeaux enthusiasts’ cellars. The natural sense of concentration and the freshness combine to offer a real vintage signature, one that Bordeaux enthusiasts will want to revisit. Amongst them are undoubtedly some future classics, and for value seekers there will be some exceptional gems to find too. Some ’22s will find a place in my own cellar, for sure.