2022 Bordeaux En Primeur: Some Very Good Wines, Not Yet a Great Vintage
Starting up in northern reaches of the Médoc, we launched our 2022 tastings with Calon Ségur, and worked our way down the Gironde. At the same time that I was left impressed by many renditions, there are no doubt some misfires. The hot, high-alcoholic wines that folks were looking to avoid certainly do exist, and they are not wines that are easy to hide. On the other hand, many examples that we had were triumphant, and hint to the successes of the year. My from-a-distance synopsis of the day is that we have a variable vintage on our hands, but looking back through my notes, the wines were very impressive much more often than not.
While many producers were holding their cards close to the chest, there was some common rhetoric. One talking point was that they were all amazed/surprised/delighted to see that a season so warm could produce wines of poise and freshness. That alone left me a bit baffled—if all of the lengths that we go to in modern Bordeaux provide a precise level of technical management in the vineyards, there should be much less left to surprise—these variables should be known entities. That aside, two main factors have been championed so far—diurnal shifts, where the nights were cool enough to relieve the stress of the warm days, and resilient Merlot fruit that helped blend out the tougher, small-berried tannins of the Cabernet.
The early highlights for me start with Pichon-Lalande 2022. A wine of impeccable texture and finessed, silky tannins, it tasted like a masterclass in refinement and regal bearing. As all young vintages of Pichon-Lalande tend to be, it is a demanding wine, but one that just begs you to spend time with it. I was also a bit shocked by the purity and precision of their neighbor, Pichon-Baron. I’ll have to admit that, while this lovely terroir is consistent over the years, it can create an imposing, dense, and demanding wine. Aromatically it hinted at this character, but the palate was full of pin-point, deep fruit that carried on for a long time after the wine was gone.
In the north, Cos d’Estournel felt back on form, one of the best examples from a château that often leaves me perplexed, but this time left little doubt. There was no mystery, as usual, about 2022 Montrose, a wine that just takes an inimitable stride from one vintage to the next with a character and depth that is at the same time unique and serious. The same can be said about Léoville-Barton, a wine that seems bulletproof from year to year. The Barton family handled the 2022 season with panache to spare. As with the best vintages, 2022 Léoville-Barton is a technical marvel that combines structure with layers of flavor and a deeply fruited core that shines on a long finish.
On the flip side, there were many wines, ranging from entry-level charmers to big-time classified growths that felt pushed, hot, and extracted in the vintage. The main offenders were some of the more everyday examples and second wines—it seemed pretty clear that the choice of what was being blended out of the top wines was specifically to eliminate a bit of this character. That means that we will probably see a lot of the more affordable wines being remarkably early drinkers, ready to go out of the gate and quick to charm customers around the world with ease. The jury is still out if that means we have a top-heavy vintage, or an abundance of riper wines that will draw in a certain crowd without hesitation.
That said, the over-exerted wines, as a casualty of vineyard work or handling in the cellar, are not just limited to a handful of alternate labels—we also found some in the top billing for a given estate. I won’t throw anything under the bus without a chance to re-taste, but more so want to describe what you might find. These are wines that have plentiful ripe fruit and high alcohol, but can’t manage to join the two in a sense of textural refinement, and leave drying tannins gripping the palate. A few of the worst offenders lacked mid-palate depth, going from explosive fruit to bitter tannins, without anything between.
Tomorrow we will continue to explore the Left Bank and it will be interesting to see if we can find similar highs and lows, a bit more consistency as we venture farther south, and continue to try to connect with producers and get the inside scoop on what makes this vintage tick. As my colleague Ralph Sands says, right now, this is a vintage with good wines. Whether or not it is a great vintage is still very much up in the air, and tastings will continue to prove it out either way in the coming days.