2022 Bordeaux in Bottle: Living in the Present

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JANUARY 28, 2025

Left Bank: Saint-Estèphe | Pauillac | Saint-Julien | Margaux | Pessac-Léognan & Graves | Entre-deux-Mers | Left Bank Satellites | Sauternes | Sauternes (Blanc Sec)

Right Bank: Pomerol | Saint-Émilion | Right Bank Satellites

The 2022 Bordeaux elicited quite a bit of enthusiasm at the outset. That’s not surprising, given the challenges of the preceding 2021 harvest. The world and the wine market have changed quite a bit since then in so many ways. But the fundamental question remains: How are the 2022s now that they are in bottle? The short answer is that the very best 2022s are truly spectacular. But there is also some variability, as we will explore below.

Clos Fourtet on a cold winter day. Saint-Émilion’s limestone plateau excelled under the challenges of the 2022 growing season.

The 2022 Growing Season

Obviously, the growing season has not changed since I first reported on these wines two years ago. Readers may wish to revisit my article, 2022 Bordeaux En Primeur: Balance Imbalance, for a detailed breakdown of key events. The long and short of it is that 2022 growing season was very hot and also very dry. Recorded hours of sunshine in the critical period from June to September soared to levels not seen since 1949. Rainfall for the 12 months from winter 2021 to fall 2022 was 50-60% of normal, depending on the appellation.

Following a very cold and dry winter, the first buds appeared slightly early or on schedule, depending on the property. Frost was a concern in April, but fortunately, that did not materialize into a serious event. Flowering was also early. From there, conditions remained hot and dry all the way through to harvest. Producers reported three to four periods of sustained elevated temperatures. June 20th saw a violent hailstorm pass through the northern Médoc and another that affected some areas to the very south.

Rain episodes in June, July and August were a help, as were cool evenings leading up to harvest. The real saving grace for 2022 seems to be that these warm and dry conditions began early in the year, meaning that vines were able to adjust early in the season as opposed to being subjected to shock events that can be quite traumatic and impact wine quality. Harvest started in late August for the whites. Many estates reported long harvest periods, which is a bit unusual in warmer years but partly a reflection of the more micro-pick approach that has become common in Bordeaux in recent years.

Noëmie Durantou Reilhac deep in discussion over her family’s 2022s.

Yields are highly variable. Many estates reported small berries and small juice yields caused by a combination of heat and drought early in the year, followed by late-season dehydration. Other properties saw yields that were very much in line with historical averages. Of course, any discussion of yields requires some explanation. Yields are typically expressed as hectoliters per hectare, in other words, a measurement of volume per unit of surface area. These figures can be helpful, especially in the context of vintages for a single property. Hectoliters per hectare becomes much less valuable when comparing properties because it does not take into account the number of vines planted per hectare. Naturally, densely planted vineyards might produce more volume of wine than vineyards planted at lower densities, but also less wine per plant, which is a more helpful and true measurement of yields but one that is rarely used. Specifically with regard to Bordeaux, vineyards are often more densely planted on the Left Bank than they are on the Right Bank. Ultimately, quite a bit of wine was bottled, judging by the number of technical directors who experienced delays with mobile bottlers that had underestimated the time required to bottle certain wines and that were therefore obligated to push back scheduled times at other properties.

Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier turned out an epic 2022 at Les Carmes Haut-Brion.

Putting the 2022s Through Their Paces

Ultimately, it is in tasting that the 2022s are most surprising. Alcohols are a bit higher than the norm but not excessively so. Acidities, measured by pH, are also a touch elevated, but also not severely. In short, the 2022s have a sense of balance, of proportion, that is all their own. The best wines are compelling. These are rich, heady young wines with considerable baby fat and plenty of both textural intensity and freshness. Some wines do indeed have elevated alcohols. Others carry a legacy of tannins that did not ripen perfectly. But as a group, the 2022s do not taste like wines from an excessively warm and dry year. Two thousand twenty-two is a vintage where diligent vineyard managers and technical directors were able to make superb wines. The great terroirs shine brightly, but there are also a handful of wines from less highly regarded sites that turned out well because the intense heat allowed the fruit to ripen more fully than it often does. I can’t single out any one appellation as stronger than the others, as there are fabulous 2022s to be found in every region within Bordeaux.

This stunning range of wines from Pichon-Baron and Suduiraut includes several new offerings. I never thought I would taste more whites than reds at Pichon-Baron, but it happened this year across both properties, naturally.

Turning to the whites, 2022 is a solid vintage for Bordeaux’s dry whites. The 2022s are perhaps not super-exciting, but they are still very good, especially considering the conditions of the growing season. I continue to be impressed with the wines in the Blanc Sec (dry white) category that are coming out of the Sauternes region. Speaking of which, I was surprised by how much l liked the sweet Sauternes. The 2022s might not reach the heights of the very best years, but they are incredibly delicious.

All that said, traditional methods of evaluating vintages are becoming less relevant. In the past, tasters would look at the weather and then extrapolate the impact of key events onto the wines. This was far easier to do (and also more reliable) years ago, before technology became such a central tool for elevating quality in both the vineyard and cellar. To be sure, weather does have an impact on wine quality in a vintage, especially when it comes to shock or unusual events that affect large areas. Leaving those episodes aside for a minute, today, quality is often determined not just by the weather, a winemaker’s skill in coping with conditions or the pedigree of site, but just as much (if not more) by a property’s ambition and financial means to afford the best tools. In simple terms, this means that quality is increasingly driven by the financial strength of individual châteaux (which tend to own the best vineyards) and less by the traditional methods of analyzing variables such as rainfall, temperature, harvest dates and the whole range of other data points that wineries like to share with those who taste their wines.

A serene view from the tasting room at Château Latour, with sheep grazing on neighboring parcels at Léoville-Las Cases.

The Future for the 2022s…

The biggest problem with the 2022s has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with prices. Following the post-pandemic euphoria in wine markets, the 2022s were simply priced too high when they were offered en primeur. It is very hard to envision a solution to this situation. Proprietors can’t easily lower prices for their livrables (bottled wines being offered again now) because that will only infuriate négociants, merchants and ultimately consumers who paid high prices for the wines less than two years ago. Moreover, reductions are a tacit admission that prices were too high for the wines on release and possibly also unrealistically high for several vintages going back at least a few years. And yet, there is no denying the best 2022s are absolutely stunning. This is an inflection point for Bordeaux, but to be fair, the same applies to many regions.

Technical Director David Suire in the vines at Larcis-Ducasse, one of Saint-Émilion’s under-the-radar gems.

The Short List

Bordeaux remains the center of the wine universe, at least for red wines, when it comes to consistency and volume. Simply put, no other region can match Bordeaux for its sheer number of high-quality offerings. Leaving aside 25 to 30 high-flyers, most remain exceptionally well-priced within the context of fine wine. Sadly, many of these get very little attention. That’s a real shame. These are some of my favorite lesser-known wines.

Beau-Séjour Bécot – A fabulous effort from Juliette Bécot and Julien Barthe, the 2022 might very well be the most elegant, refined wine ever made here.

Brane-Cantenac – A stellar Margaux from Henri Lurton and his team that comfortably rides with the biggest names.

La Conseillante – Elegance and finesse personified. A brilliant effort from the team led by Technical Director Marielle Cazaux.

Clos Saint-Julien – A striking 2022 from Catherine Papon Nouvel’s tiny vineyard on Saint-Émilion’s limestone plateau.

Clos Saint-Martin – One of the most refined, elegant wines in Saint-Émilion. Haute couture.

Côte de Baleau – This Saint-Émilion from the Cuvelier family, owners of Clos Fourtet, is especially fine in 2022. Don’t miss it.

La Côte de Lascombes – This new 100% Merlot from Lascombes is seriously impressive and hints at what is to come under the leadership of new Estate Director Axel Heintz

La Dame de Montrose – Probably the finest “second wine” on the Left Bank, La Dame is seriously impressive in 2022. It will easily challenge or surpass some Grand Vins.

Figeac – As impressive from bottle as it was from barrel, the 2022 is a superb Saint-Émilion from the Manoncourt family and the team led by Estate Director Frédéric Faye.

Haut-Bages Libéral – A fabulous Pauillac from Claire Villars-Lurton and a wine that richly deserves a broader audience.

Larcis Ducasse – A wonderful showing from what might be the single most under-the-radar property in Bordeaux.

Le Pin Beausoleil – Aromatic, silky and exceptionally polished, Le Pin Beausoleil is one of Bordeaux’s very best lesser-known wines.

Les Perrières – Chateau Lafleur is out of reach for most consumers, but Les Perrières is far more accessible and offers plenty of the magic of its older and more famous sibling.

de Pez – The 2022 is a big step forward for this Saint-Estèphe.

Poujeaux – The Cuvelier family’s Moulis-en-Médoc is especially fine in 2022 and quite a testament to how strong this vintage is across all the family’s wines.

Gonzague Lurton and Claire Villars-Lurton, seen here at Durfort-Vivens, presented a stellar range of their 2022s across their various properties.

About this Report

I tasted all the wines in this report in December 2024, with a few follow-up tastings in my office in the weeks that followed. A few estates are missing from this report because of logistical and scheduling issues. I will endeavor to add reviews for those wines as soon as is practical.

© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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