Bordeaux 2022 Critic Thoughts

All the leading critics and journalists have now been in Bordeaux to taste the 2022 vintage during the Primeurs week and we have summised their thoughts below providing a snapshot of their thoughts and feelings about the vintage and wines.

"My first look at the 2022 vintage came, as is often the case, by judging the mood of the winemakers during harvest – and by my memories of the 2022 summer, constantly looking for a cool spot to relax in. There were nerves throughout the growing season, whatever winemakers say now. But by harvest came a growing sense of disbelief and cautious optimism that against all odds, 2022 was going to deliver something exceptional... this is, however much you try to resist the term, an extraordinary vintage. It’s not one without challenges, and the words ‘earliest harvest since 1893’ tend to scare off most people who look for balance in their wines. Looking back on the past month of tasting, there’s no doubt there’s drama here, in many cases way too much of it. But there is also plenty to love, and slowly but surely, these wines have won me over... one thing for sure is that 2022 is a vintage that will be referenced for many years to come, and I’ve tasted many exceptional wines that are truly worth getting excited about..."

Jane Anson

"this is the 40th year I have tasted barrel samples in Bordeaux, but I have never come across anything like the 2022 vintage. It was one of the hottest and driest growing seasons in the history of France’s most famous wine region, yet it produced thousands of opulent and structured but still fresh and balanced wines... In tasting the young barrel samples, the best quality wines of 2022 had exceptional fruit and freshness as well as fine and intense tannins. A few were overdone, and I marked down some big names for wines with too much tannin and/or too much fruit. Perhaps cellar aging over the next 18 months will tame the wines, but most of the outstanding quality wines I tasted (there were a lot) already showed the impressive filigree and harmony I look for in new, classically structured Bordeaux... it’s the same old story with pricing of en primeur: the market will decide. But high interest rates, volatile stock prices and recent bank failures may make some buyers uneasy with tying their money up in futures of young Bordeaux. The quality of the wines in 2022, however, is exceptional."

James Suckling

"...winemakers have learnt from previous hot vintages such as 2003 and 2018 what to do and what not to do, but so, it seems, have the vines themselves. Unlike some previous years, in 2022 the leaves on the vines stayed green and healthy – right through to November in some cases. As Fabien Teitgen, who has been at Ch Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan for 27 years, put it: ‘2022 was hotter and drier than any other season right from the start. So the vine got used to the heat compared to, say, 2003 when hot, dry weather suddenly arrived in summer.’ A devout practitioner of organic and biodynamic precepts, he rejects the notion that the vines might have their own intelligence, ‘but vines have a better relationship with the soil now’."

Jancis Robinson MW

"everyone who has tasted the wines will agree that the quality and character of the 2022 vintage in Bordeaux is a surprise... But for readers contemplating en primeur purchases, it is even more important to understand that the 2022 vintage is an amplifier, foregrounding differences between sites, viticultural practices and winemaking choices... that explains not only the vintage’s potential greatness, but also its heterogeneity. Bordeaux has produced some monumental wines in 2022, but unlike many of the great vintages of the 20th century, the year was not a rising tide that raised all boats. At its best, this is a vintage of remarkable concentration, energy and harmony; but far from forgiving mistakes, 2022 punished them, and the less-successful wines are jammy, astringent and rustic... terroirs conventionally thought to be of only modest potential were also capable of delivering brilliant results this year."

William Kelley (Wine Advocate)

"The consistency of quality is just one surprise to come out of this vintage of extremes. The other amazing twist is the styles. There is a luminosity to many of the wines from 2022 that defies what we thought we knew about Bordeaux varieties. It whispers previously untold truths about the potential of the region’s terroirs and vines in the face of climate change. A relatively dry winter and spring and the subsequent smaller vine canopies from the get-go can go some way to explaining the differences between the number of effortless beauties in 2022 vs the number of monsters in 2003. But the undeniable brightness of 2022’s wines remind us that it is arrogant to think we understand all the mysteries that happen beneath the ground or the extent of the coping mechanisms of vines."
Lisa Perotti Brown MW (Wine Independent)

"The 2022s are some of the most memorable young wines I have ever tasted in Bordeaux. The best 2022s are magnificent, viscerally thrilling wines that show what is possible with thoughtful approaches to viticulture and winemaking. A number of properties at all levels made their best wines ever. But 2022 is not consistently great from top to bottom, so some selection is warranted."

Antonio Galloni (Vinous)

"we’re getting used to hearing the word ‘extreme’ describe a vintage in Bordeaux, almost as much as ‘historic’ or ‘unique’. But none used so often, or as pertinently, as for 2022 where the region faced the warmest, driest conditions in over a century and the hottest on record with four heatwaves and intense summer drought... Not exactly encouraging, and on paper this might have read as a catastrophe. Certainly, many a sleepless night was had by winemakers throughout the growing season and even beyond the earlier-than-ever harvests. Nevertheless, a surprisingly large number of vineyards and their growers prevailed against the odds to create a wealth of exceptional wines in 2022."

Georgie Hindle (Decanter)