Anyone who’s had the Bordeaux marketing experience will know that chateaux have a slight obsession with numbers. It’s a statistician’s dream: IPTs, pHs, assemblages, percentage of new oak, hours of sunshine, temperature charts, rainfall. All very impressive, but in 2022, not worth the luxury card they are printed on. We know it was hot – there were forest fires south of Bordeaux and over 2800 heat-related deaths in France, but the ‘22s have little in common with other extreme summers such as 2003.

Yes, these wines have power and concentration, but the overwhelming sensations when tasting are minerality and freshness. Ballasted by a prominent tannic framework, the wines rarely veer into excess; certainly, it’s not a hedonist’s vintage per se – there is a sense of proportion and clarity to the fruit with, if anything, a cooling, wiry line of acidity that completely rebuffs any comparison to the soupier, glossier 2003s.

So, why is 2022 such a paradox? There are several factors that could provide an explanation.

Hey Nineteen

Unlike the Donald Fagen song, I found myself on very much the same wavelength as these 19s. This was the best Southwold tasting I’ve been involved with, even trumping the outstanding 2009s and 2016s.

If we cast our minds back to a time before Covid, lockdowns and zoom tastings, Bordeaux enjoyed a perfect growing season with ample sunshine, hot days and rains that always arrived in the nick of time. Few vintages could have been so easy. Even the harvest was a breeze. As Omri Ram from Lafleur explained later, they thought they had a big, “solaire” vintage on their hands, but as vinifications evolved they realised 2019 was something special. These wines have a real core and middle, a sense of line and precision, energy and latent power. There’s charm in abundance but look below the surface and you’ll find something very serious, even profound.

The narrative about Bordeaux en primeur often begins long before we’ve tasted the wines. Every slight change in weather is seized on as an indicator of success, or failure, with disaster stories dominating opinion. It can often be quite hard to separate what you’ve read from the reality of the vintage. If 16 years tasting primeur wines has taught me anything, it’s that great wines are made under even the most challenging conditions.  

We approached our tasting of the 2021 vintage with a mixture of excitement, curiosity and just a touch of the UK wine trade’s typical cynicism. Most UK merchants I bumped into on the trip were simply happy to be back tasting fresh barrel samples in Bordeaux again. It was good to catch up with friends and to see the huge changes at chateaux. There have been some very swanky new cellars built over the past couple of years!

Vingt-et-un… the luck of the draw

After two years tasting in gardens and via zoom, our recent primeurs trip marked a welcome return to Bordeaux. In truth, we had no expectations about this vintage. Unusually, chateaux have been playing their cards close to their chests, so we approached with no preconceptions.

A few points on the tastings themselves. The UGC calendar was delayed by about three weeks. This move has been welcomed. The extra time in barrel (even a couple of weeks) makes the wines much easier to assess. Our whole UK Private Client Team, as well as five Buyers, spent four days tasting barrel samples. Some might consider this overkill; however, for an advice-based business like Justerinis, we feel that this is essential. We believe salespeople need first-hand tasting experience in order to inform and advise. This is particularly valuable in vintages like 2021. 

2021 threw just about everything at winemakers: frost, mildew, lack of sunshine and the threat of rain at harvest; yet those who manged the conditions and held their nerve have been rewarded with something quite ravishing and unique. It would be easy to write off a vintage like 2021 based on meteorological data, but that would be a disservice. While it requires some attention, there are undoubtedly many wines collectors will want in their cellars.

All in the name of progress – Calon Segur vertical

A providentially timed email resulted in an invitation we couldn’t refuse – a vertical tasting with Vincent Millet, followed by lunch in the recently refurbished chateau. This proved to be a fascinating opportunity to gauge the progress of Calon Segur over the last decade and enjoy some memorable bottles.

We started with 2008, when the vineyard was planted with 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot at a density as low as 5,000 vines per hectare, below the AOC limit. Today, after a massive re-planting program, the vineyards are planted at a density of 10,000 feet per hectare, and Cabernet plays are more dominant role (59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 30% Merlot). This has been a long and labourious process and it isn’t finished yet. Vincent explained that there are still 11 hectares to grub up; the last parcel won’t be completed until 2035. We finished with our first glimpse at their outstanding 2019. The intervening years demonstrate the chateau’s relentless pursuit of quality and continuing refinement.