Bordeaux 2022 En Primeur Vintage Report

The picture from 2022 is vastly different to the one presented by its predecessor. Instead of a cool and wet vintage, we have one marked by heat and drought. While there are concerns that the extreme heat and weather events in June might have damaged the vines in some domains, the outlook is bright for this vintage.

Colin Hay of the drinks business remarks that the weather conditions all point to a promising vintage, at least on par with the likes of 2018, 2019 and 2020. Jane Anson concurs in her 2022 Vintage Overview. She highlights that flowering took place in good conditions, fruit set was variable but overall successful, ripening of grapes was also mostly a success despite the hot conditions, and that harvest conditions were near perfect, with no rain and little illness such as rot.

Rainfall levels in 2022 were very similar to 2010, a particularly good vintage, but the temperatures considerably higher. The dry summer is reminiscent of conditions experienced in 2016, 2018 and 2020, but spring in 2022 was also much dryer than previous years.

We can expect very concentrated wines from 2022. Jane Anson’s tasting notes so far describe ‘wines that are richly coloured with plenty of tannic heft’. The extreme weather conditions (both heat and storms) also imply a low yield and an exclusive vintage, though this will vary greatly from one domain to the next.

The high temperatures and low rainfall yielded ‘small grapes, thick skins, and clear concentration’, according to Jane Anson. This also means the wines produced are high in tannins, which is a good indicator that they will age well.