Bordeaux 2022 report

15/05/2023
Well that was surprising! To cut a long story short this was the most extraordinary and unexpected Bordeaux tasting I have experienced and I’ve been doing this for a very long time. During my week-long stay in Bordeaux at the end of April I tasted exceptional wines at all levels – from petits châteaux to second wines and, of course, the big names. Not all were as good as they could have been and quality is not totally outstanding across the board (more on that later) but overall the vintage is remarkably consistent and rewarding. There are superb examples on both the Left and Right Banks. I do have my favourites… Pomerol was a joy to taste and that’s not always the case for me.

So, why the surprise? Sometimes what you read and have been taught just isn’t enough. Nature always has the last laugh. Natural vs. human factors in this case. The growing season in 2022 was like no other. Apart from June, average rainfall was below normal throughout the growing season. For much of the summer, in fact, there was little or rain at all. Combine that with supersonic (sorry!) temperatures … many more days above 40 degrees in a single growing season than ever before, and one would have been totally within their rights to expect a vintage overloaded with alcohol, overripe fruit and low acidity. This would have been expected especially with the earlier ripening Merlot, where the yeasts might take one look at the sugar-laden Merlot berries, freshly arrived in the winery and simply say ‘no, thank you very much’, pack their bags and go home!

In addition to the lack of rain and super-hot temperatures the Gironde also suffered from terrible wildfires. These missed the vineyards, fortunately, and I didn’t detect any sign of smoke taint. That’s not something you can hide.

So the great surprise is that the wines are not overloaded with alcohol, at least no more than usual. The wines are not full of overripe fruit and there is a freshness there. The tannins are pronounced – often very much so but almost always wonderfully juicy and generous. I loved the tannins in so many of the wines I tasted (although maybe my teeth and gums would have a different view). There were some wines on the chalky side and if I didn’t know better I would put that down to acidification. I note that I am not alone in that suspicion. So, big, powerful, juicy, grainy, juicy, opulent tannins and then (and here’s another surprise) … fresh fruit. Very few wines showed cooked and overripe fruit and I was really looking out for that. I was expecting that, especially because of the super-hot days and relatively early harvest dates. The fruit structure of so many of the wines I tasted was supremely impressive. Alongside the generous tannins and bright, pure and layered fruit there is also freshness. The wines have balancing acidity.

So there you have it. ‘But how is this possible’, I hear you ask. We are in Bordeaux and, with respect, the Bordelais are masters of hyping up their wines. For the reasons I laid out earlier the growing conditions in 2022 should have produced wines with off the scale sugar levels and therefore unwanted off-the-scale levels of alcohol. The vines should have struggled in the heat and wilted with the lack of moisture. The early(ish) harvest dates might have begged questions about phenolic ripeness and the presence of green tannins. So what happened?

There was genuine surprise in many chateaux, even amongst the big names. There was surprise that with all the natural challenges these young wines seem to have everything going for them and are developing beautifully. The best explanation and one that I totally bought into came from Pierre-Olivier Clouet at Château Cheval-Blanc. The key difference and saving grace for the vintage was that it was consistently challenging for the vines throughout the growing season. They were in survival mode from April onwards (with some rainy respite in June and late August). The point is that the vines grew slowly, reducing vigour, conserving energy. They never got going in the first place.

Nature knows what to do in these conditions. This meant less intervention in the vineyard, less aggressive canopy management, fewer bunches of grapes but what bunches there were, were seriously concentrated. Small perfect berries, bursting with flavour. I also found Pierre Montegut’s and Christian Seely’s assessment to be really helpful in understanding the vintage, ‘these conditions caused water constraints in our vines… which gave a very promising tannic and anthocyanin richness.’ I have to say that their assessment was borne out in the wines at Pichon. Magnificent wines. I’m excited to see Pichon Baron continuing to raise their already very high bar.

It is no surprise, therefore, that yields are on the low side in 2022. The result is unlike any other vintage I have tasted at this stage. It is a constant and probably an irritating question that we ask producers ‘which vintage would you compare this to’? I think it was Ch Figeac (I may be wrong) that pre-empted the question by saying it is like the 1870 (or around then). I thought that was an excellent deflection and clever riposte to a silly question. The wines have so much potential and (almost always) a joy to taste. While Cabernet has performed really well, it has turned out to be a superb Merlot vintage and that, for me, is the greatest surprise of all.

I strongly recommend the vintage at all levels and I can’t wait to follow them as develop over the next decades.

If you would like recommendations and to receive offers please do get in touch . This is a vintage to fill your cellars with wines to drink at home and to invest in.

Richard Household, May 2022

More on the growing season:
Cold, dry winter followed by a warm Spring. This meant early bud-break and the inevitable stress over late frosts. This happened but not much damage in 2022. Flowering and fruit set happened in May in very good/benign conditions. Then heatwave after heatwave with some respite in June and a relatively cool (especially at night) and rainy mid-August, which helped a great deal. Some grapes (Cheval Blanc for example) were harvested in late August but generally harvest dates ranged from the 1st week in September to 1 st week in October. Merlot first and Cabernet last.

Vinification
Higher use of press wines in many cases – 17% at Ch Lafite-Rothschild. Gentle touch, delicate extraction applied by almost everyone.