2022 Bordeaux En Primeur

“Some of the most exciting red Bordeaux produced in the last two decades”
William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Our fine wine team tasted the 2022s in April and are pleased to report that, at this early stage, the wines live up to the hype. There are some truly incredible wines here and provided they are fairly priced, we will be recommending that you make some room in your cellar… In short, 2022 is a remarkable vintage. Remarkable for many reasons, but largely because in spite of the heat of the vintage and the lack of rain, the wines are miraculously balanced and fresh.

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Bordeaux EP 2022

That’s not to say they don’t have some very ripe fruit and big tannic structures, which will take a decade or more to settle in many wines. But how they’ve retained such freshness and show so much refinement remains a mystery to many, especially when compared to similarly hot vintages such as 2003 and 2018. Some answers include vines adapting to consistently warmer years and shorter growing seasons, as well as the nights being much cooler than previously hot years.

Patience will be required to see the true majesty of the vintage, especially at the top end. Excitingly however, as is often the case in excellent vintages, there are some brilliant wines across the value properties too. Potensac’s 2022 will age effortlessly for two decades in magnum and deliver an incredible experience to its end drinker, for likely under £20 per bottle. Senejac will be around £10 per bottle and will show off the immense potential of this vintage almost as soon as it lands.

For those new to en primeur and to summarise briefly, the practice of selling and buying ‘en primeur’ refers to wineries selling their wines before they’ve been bottled. In the case of Bordeaux, the wines usually land three years following the vintage – the current 2022 releases will be expected to arrive with us during the spring and summer of 2025. In exchange for committing to a wine this far ahead of physical ownership, buyers are (hopefully) incentivised to purchase with keen pricing – ideally with the lowest priced vintage on the market. Or, at the very least, the lowest priced comparable vintage.

In the case of 2022, that sets the bar high, given the quality is undeniably up there with the best vintages of the century, including 2005, 2009, 2010, 2016 and 2019. Buying en primeur also offers the opportunity to secure the most sought-after wines. In Bordeaux, this equates to some of the most sought-after wines across the globe – and often once they’re sold out during the en primeur release, they may not be seen on the market again until a few years later, and at higher prices.

‘Bordeaux has produced some monumental wines in 2022… terroirs conventionally thought to be of only modest potential were also capable of delivering brilliant results this year.’
William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

THE GROWING SEASON

A hot and dry vintage saw half of the average rainfall over the growing season, which has led to early harvests and very small berries – particularly in Cabernet Sauvignon; reduced yields are likely to lead to lower availability for some properties, and some price increases are expected. Our vintage report is now available.

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THE WINES

Long before the Davy’s team set foot in Bordeaux to taste barrel samples of the 2022s, we were hearing good things – very good things in fact. While it’s important to taste with an open mind and not get swept along with the hype, we were certainly intrigued about what we would find in our glasses. Could it really be that one of the hottest, driest vintages in recent memory – even in the context of a changing climate – had produced balanced, terroir expressive wines? In a word, yes.

At many of the tastings we attended, winemakers and vineyard managers were simply unable to explain quite how the wines had retained such remarkable freshness. Alcohol levels are certainly up on the very modest (by modern standards) numbers that we saw with last year’s releases, but many wines managed to come in at around 14% and even those that were nudging higher were generally not coming across as hot or overripe in the glass.

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SUMMARY

‘No mildew, no frost, no hail… no pressure? Not quite. There was also virtually no rain, and LOTS of heat.’
Thomas Burke, Château Margaux

An exceptional year, the 2022 vintage has delivered some of the most exciting wines we’ve ever tasted in Bordeaux – however, as the Wine Advocate’s William Kelley warns ‘its heterogeneity means that it is not a year to buy blind’.

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Tickets are still available to our En Primeur tasting on 24th May – click here for more information and to book yours If you’re new to En Primeur you’ll find detailed information in our article ‘What is En Primeur?’