2022 BORDEAUX: INEXPLICABLY MAGNIFICENT!
The enlightened and charming Véronique Sanders of Pessac-Léognan’s Château Haut-Bailly described Bordeaux’s 2022 vintage as ‘prophetic’. Many other vignerons also believe that extreme weather conditions during the annual growing season will continue into the future. This outlook has resulted in remarkable investments in new equipment (frost machines, particularly), AI technologies and sustainable farming techniques. This challenge is also creating more enlightened thinking. The 2022 vintage season has shown that empathy, inventiveness, environmental responsibility and skill can overcome or mitigate the existential threat of climate change. The year 2022 could have been a disaster, but it wasn’t. It is a magnificent year, reflecting the best of nurture, the natural resilience of vines and the mystery of life. The scientific community, winemakers and vignerons are still reflecting on how such a miracle happened and where the vintage sits in history. Spring saw a series of black frosts in April, but most vignerons were prepared with their frost machines or frost pots. Early-ripening merlot vines were the most exposed, but cabernet sauvignon had not reached budburst and was not impacted. The three heatwaves that hit the region, in June, July and August, worried vignerons who believed that the vines would suffer greatly or die. There was also a feeling that the grapes would become overripe and lose their freshness and aromatic intensity. But these feelings of anxiety would later transform into ones of relief and elation. Although this is not a typical or traditional Bordeaux vintage (whatever that means these days!), the young primeur wines are incredibly beautiful, with superb fruit definition, richness of flavour and structure. They have some way to go, but the overall definition, balance and structures are very impressive. Olivier Berrouet of Château Petrus aptly described the 2022s as showing ‘lovely density but not being overly saturated’. Ultimately, this was a ‘solar vintage’ with remarkable
Bordeaux 2022
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