Last week saw the first London outing of the now-bottled 2022 Bordeaux vintage courtesy of the Union Grands Crus (UGC). And whilst many of the region’s supermodel estates were not present at the tasting, there was a decent showing by many UGC châteaux across all communes and styles.
The big question was whether the wines would live up to the hype and hoopla that were generated during the 2023 en primeur campaign. Back then, merchants and journalists were unusually unanimous in both their surprise and praise of the vintage. For example, The Wine Society’s Bordeaux buyer, Tim Sykes, ranked it as one of the finest vintages of the last 50 years, dubbing it ‘the best red vintage I’ve tasted en primeur.’ The Wine Independent’s Lisa Perrotti-Brown wrote that, ‘the top wines of the 2022 Bordeaux vintage are bright, multilayered and luminous. And there are a lot of them. This is a classic, great Bordeaux vintage.’
The most successful châteaux have resisted the temptation to over-extract in such a generous and tannic vintage
The growing season had been another rollercoaster ride with the elements providing challenges in the form of frost, hail and prolonged hot, dry weather, all of which reduced the overall yield. There were also the famous forest fires in the Landirais, which provoked (unfounded) fears of smoke taint. Fortunately, it did rain occasionally during the summer months and, crucially, just when it was most needed, especially in June and August.
As a result, there was little or no blocage (shutdown) in the vines and the small berries were harvested with high sugars and plentiful colour. When the Bordelais returned from their holidays in August, they feared that the wines would be too monolithic and lacking in acidity. But their concerns were soon alleviated. In the cellar, it became clear that the musts possessed surprisingly low pHs alongside deep concentrated colours, abundant polyphenols and rich, vivacious fruit. Most surprising of all was the suppleness and freshness of the Merlot, which added softness and juiciness to the reds on both banks. This explains why the Merlot content in the 2022s is frequently higher than normal.
2022 Bordeaux: a red vintage
It was also acclaimed as a success on both the left and right banks of the Gironde. Of course, not every wine benefited. Given the summer heat, it was not such a propitious vintage for the region’s dry whites, which will not be as fine or as long-lived as the 2021s. It was also a more challenging year for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, where botrytis came late in the season. Nevertheless, some good wines have clearly been made in a richer, riper style.
Drilling down, many outstanding reds have been made in the appellations of Pauillac, Margaux, St Julien and Pessac-Léognan. There are also some sublime wines on the Right Bank – especially on limestone soils. Here, the most successful châteaux have resisted the temptation to over-extract in such a generous and tannic vintage. Sadly, however, some have conspicuously failed to surmount that winemaking hurdle. Plus ça change…
On the basis of this tasting, none of the best wines are shy or retiring. There is rich concentrated fruit, plenty of ripe tannin and many wines possess ABVs at or above 14%. Crucially, the tannins are ripe and well managed. Most importantly, they are judiciously tamed and balanced by fine, refreshing acidities and densely vibrant blue-black fruits.
At Léoville-Barton, the team was extremely careful in the cellar. For instance, it reduced pump-overs by 50% and entirely eschewed déléstage (a racking technique). Significantly, the St Julien Second Growth came in at 14% – ‘which is unusually high for us,’ Lilian Barton acknowledged. Les Carmes Haut-Brion even used whole bunch fermentation to moderate alcohol and elevate freshness.
Given their structure, the vast majority of red wines will require a good few years in bottle for their drinking windows to be prised open. And thanks to their bright acidities and deceptive tannic heft, they will also remain open for considerably longer. So if you did buy some 2022s en primeur, my advice would be to broach the early runners and riders from 2032 onwards. For the top super seconds and premiers crus, look to 2040+.
The pricing of wines
What is less certain is what will happen to the prices of these now bottled and soon-to-be-delivered wines once the secondary market for them opens in the spring of next year. Several UK merchants I spoke to last week suggested that the 2022s will either flat line or drop in value in the next year or two.
There are several reasons why they are less than bullish. One is because buyers paid top dollar in 2023 when the châteaux raised their en primeur release prices between 20-40% on the basis of high quality and low yields. But the following year, the Bordelais undermined their 2022s by reducing prices for the ‘not bad’ 2023 vintage. And should they do the same again next year, that will only heap more downward price pressure on the 2022s.
2022 Bordeaux remains a red wine vintage of dazzling quality that will undoubtedly bring considerable drinking pleasure
And that’s not all. The fine-wine market has been slowly drifting southwards while prices have also dipped quite notably on La Place de Bordeaux. At the same time, there remains a large surplus stock of good young Bordeaux vintages in the market, providing a further disincentive to buyers.
Clearly, this remains a red wine vintage of dazzling quality that will undoubtedly bring considerable drinking pleasure when the time is right. Should prices come down significantly, it might well be worth stocking up.
Six wines to seek out from the Bordeaux 2022 vintage
