✒ Bordeaux 2022 – Terroir & Talent

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16 May

En Primeur is a divisive subject.

There are journalists who refuse to taste, claiming they don’t want to taste samples that are not finished, or worse, manipulated to suit certain palates. There are others who believe that journalists become embroiled in the sales system by publishing reviews before prices are announced. What is certain is that no region in the world can shine such a bright spotlight and create as much commentary and hype as Bordeaux does every April, when it opens its doors to the world to taste the latest vintage. One could be forgiven for believing during April that no other wine region exists. Even journalists who haven’t tasted the fledgling samples pitch in with an opinion, not wanting to be left out of the great theatre of En Primeur.

This year more than 6,000 of the world’s wine trade and journalists descended on Bordeaux to taste the 2022 vintage. This was the driest vintage recorded, with little rain between mid-June and harvest, and it was also the year of wildfires perilously close to the vineyards of the Southern Graves. I spent a week tasting alongside Jane Anson, who has just released her report on www.janeanson.com, a herculean effort of reviewing over 800 wines. I only tasted 300, but it was enough to confirm that it is a vintage like no other I have tasted in my career, a vintage of surprise, and a reminder the danger of judging a vintage entirely from fact sheets. All generalisations in this vintage went out of the window, it wasn’t a Right Bank year, nor a Left Bank year, not a Cabernet year, nor a Merlot year. It was a year for terroir and talent, a year where decisions made in the vineyard and the cellar were crucial – a year when the talent of the winemaker made a huge difference to the end result.

In the past, it was about to getting the grapes to perfect ripeness; this year it was how to achieve ripeness without over-ripeness and how to manage the tannins. Many producers talked about the vines becoming “battle-hardened” after several hot vintages, adapting to climate change. Jane pointed out that, while we all hope this will be the case, the proof will be if there are several years of drought, as 2022 benefited from a water reserve from 2021. What is without question is that many of the producers have become “battle-hardened” and are taking new approaches to viticulture and vinification. As Véronique Sanders of Château Haut-Bailly told me, “We wouldn’t have vinified like this 20 years ago.” It was interesting to note how several of the most successful wines had winemakers who had experience in California and South America. Fabien Teitgen from Château Smith Haut-Lafitte, who produced a brilliant red and white in 2022, told me that he was looking at vertical trellising after his time in Napa at the Cathiard’s new estate. A gentle extraction was an important key to success, as small berries and low yields led to deep colours and tannins that needed careful managing. The skin-to-juice ratio was high, so many of the most successful producers reduced the fermentation temperature from around 28°C to 26°C. Also, while there were hot days and drought conditions, the 2022 vintage had the advantage of cool nights from June to September, and I was impressed how many of the wines had retained their freshness.

Some wines which were on clay (and thus, on paper, should do well) produced tannins which were too overpowering, while certain gravel soils coped well. It is an estate-by-estate vintage. I didn’t taste the Moueix stable, Cheval Blanc or Leoville Barton on this trip (which often rank in my top wines) but out of the 300 I tasted here are my stand-outs: all the First Growths produced wines true to their terroirs, just in bigger frames. Château Margaux was particularly impressive for retaining its perfumed character in such a dry year. Lafite, Latour and Mouton all produced stunningly beautiful wines, it really is a matter of stylistic preference with these four, they are all at the top of their game. I marginally preferred Mission Haut-Brion to Haut Brion on the day, but at this point I wouldn’t read much into that, Haut Brion was coiled up, everything there, but slightly closed. Second wines have been constantly champing at the heels of the Grands Vins over the past few vintages, but not so in 2022. There was one second wine, however, which jumped out this year, it was Petit Mouton, an absolute triumph.

On the Left Bank, Nicolas Glumineau has provided us with a stunning Pichon Comtesse, another in a string of brilliant Pichon Comtesse vintages, and I was surprised and delighted by Château Batailley, which punched well above its weight. In the past I have found it rather four-square but the 2022 is probably one of the best Batailleys I have tasted at En Primeur. Down in the Graves, in two totally different styles, were Châteaux Haut-Bailly and Smith Haut-Lafitte – Haut-Bailly had classical Mozartian elegance, and Smith Haut-Lafitte showed all the energy of a rock ‘n’ roll star. Both were brilliant in totally different ways. On the Right Bank, Ch Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse was glorious, pure limestone elegance, but the wine of the week for me was Lafleur – heartbreakingly beautiful, and I believe will be one of the great classics of our time. I would urge readers to subscribe to Jane Anson’s site (www.janeanson.com) for a full report. Jane and I agree 90% of the time, but I am delighted to report we can happily disagree too.

So the question is whether to buy or not. My advice is, firstly, consider how old you are and when you plan to drink these wines, as this is a vintage built for long ageing. The prices are just about to come out, but with smaller yields I don’t predict prices going down, so take a deep breath and see how the prices stack up to the 2010s and 2016s, which for me are two of the greatest vintages across the board. While there is much to admire, I noticed re-reading my notes how very few wines had the word “lyrical,” my personal touchstone word for when a wine ebbs and flows like a great river across the palate but my palate will always go to elegance over opulence, energy over power. All the wines mentioned above I would be thrilled to lay down in my cellar, price permitting. It is hard to go by points anymore as everything is ranked 90+. (I was bemused to find out that one journalist has been banned from a well-known classified growth for giving their wine 94 points, so success now seems to be 95-100 points, looks like we are finally back to the five-star scale.) For a very good round-up of the vintage and different views I recommend Liv-Ex’s (www.liv-ex.com) 2022 En Primeur report, which has excellent background information.

2022 remains one of the most interesting vintages I have tasted, it is varied, it is full of contradictions, and it just might be a pointer to how Bordeaux wines will taste in the future.

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