The Wines
After spending two weeks tasting and retasting hundreds of wines from 2022, I wholeheartedly agree with Christian’s assessment – it is the best vintage I’ve tasted en primeur, and ranks among the finest of the past 50 years. The reds from 2022 are simply outstanding, displaying deep colour, rich, fleshy yet concentrated fruit, and prodigious length of flavour.
Despite challenging weather conditions throughout much of the growing season, in particular extended periods of heat and drought, the reds have maintained beautiful balance of fruit, tannin and alcohol. ‘Harmony’ and ‘energy’ are words that appeared again and again in my tasting notes this year with, paradoxically, most wines retaining scented freshness and vitality in the mouth. Despite the heat and lack of rain, few wines were jammy or overblown.
The 2022 reds are wonderful at all price levels, with all appellations and communes producing outstanding wines. The best wines will keep for decades. The only downside is that yields at some châteaux are well below average, particularly in the Médoc.
Dry white
The grapes for the dry whites were harvested extremely early in 2022, with several châteaux picking from the second week of August. The wines display clean-cut fruit and good aromatic intensity, despite the heat. Acidity levels are moderate, so most wines will be best enjoyed over the short to medium term.
Sweet wines
A lovely vintage for Sauternes and Barsac, with plenty of sweetness and botrytis cinerea (noble rot) character. Most of the grapes were picked late, in the third week of October when botrytis was widespread. Mercifully, Sauternes experienced a decent-sized crop for a change.
Growing conditions
2022 will go down as a record-breaking vintage, with long periods of unprecedented heat and drought. Mercury levels regularly hit 35°C over the summer months, with occasional peaks above 40°C. Sunshine averaged no fewer than 11 hours per day in July and August – an extraordinary statistic. After a short but welcome spell of rain in June, virtually no further precipitation materialised before the grapes were picked. Most vineyards remained green right up to the harvest, however, with only younger vines on sandy soils suffering from the lack of water.
Some of the extremes experienced in 2022 brought back memories of the 2003 vintage, the first really hot, dry vintage this century, but the end results in 2022 are decidedly more interesting than in 2003. The major difference between 2022 and 2003 is that the water deficit started early in the 2022 season. Vines are remarkably resilient and possess an ability to adapt to the conditions at hand. The shortage of moisture over the winter and spring encouraged the root systems to delve deep into the subsoil to find water.
The heat also built gradually throughout 2022, unlike in 2003 when there was a huge heat spike in August. Nicolas Audebert (Rauzan-Ségla and Canon) used the analogy of someone who has spent all summer outside acclimatising to the sun, compared with someone who steps outside for the first time in August – clearly the latter will suffer more than the former; vines react in a similar way. Finally, unlike in 2003, the nights remained cool for much of the summer in 2022, allowing the vines to recover from the day’s heat. The wines in 2022 display superb balance despite these climatic extremes.
The beginning of the 2022 harvest for whites and reds alike was exceptionally early. Château Figeac had its earliest harvest since the 19th century, while Cheval Blanc had picked 80% of its merlot by the end of August.
I asked Moueix why he thought the wines in 2022 were so well balanced – he admitted that he simply didn’t know.
Conclusion
Anyone who is serious about Bordeaux and who wants to build a great cellar should consider buying 2022 in abundance. The wines are consistently excellent and will provide years of drinking pleasure.
