Will the 2022 Bordeaux Vintage Be the Greatest of all Time?
That was the discussion this past week in Bordeaux at the annual tasting of the new wines of the 2022 harvest, Semaine des Primeurs. Every year during this spring time tasting, the wine trade arrive in Bordeaux to taste the wines of the previous harvest. The Chateaux open their doors, the Union des Grand Crus Bordeaux organize tastings of the various appellations and of course, there are great lunches, dinners and parties.
Is the 2022 vintage set to become the greatest vintage of all time? As always in the aging of wines, only time will tell! But there was a lot of chatter about the similarity to the great 1947 vintage, another summer where the heat maintained a consistent high level for 40 days. What makes the potential of this vintage so much better than the other famously hot year 2003? That year it was one relentless heat wave at the end of the summer that in many cases "cooked" the grapes on the vine, resulting in wines with too little acidity for longevity. The summer of 2022 saw high temperatures but over a series of weeks balanced out by cool nights. Winemakers say the series of heat waves allowed the grapes to adapt to the higher temperatures, the vines pushing deep into the rich gravel and clay soils to reach water far beneath the surface. Older vines with their very deep root systems performed spectacularly. The grapes proven ability to with stand the higher temperatures this year has offered a much needed respite to the fears of what climate change will mean for Bordeaux in the future.
In 2024, I will be leading a group of wine lovers to Bordeaux to taste these wines and of course many other vintages. One stop will be at Chateau La Tour Carnet where owner Bernard Magrez has been working with a team studying the effects of climate change and discovering innovations that can be made in the vineyards to help the plants adapt. Please email me at peggy.perry@icloud.com me if you would like more details.
This vintage is one to buy and if you want to buy the wines before they are released to the market in 2025 then you can participate in a futures program. This allows you to secure the wines this year, usually at a much lower price, from retailers who offer this service. Willow Park Wines & Spirits has the largest futures program in Western Canada. Reach out to Fine Wine Director Peter Smolarz at peters@willowpark.net to get added to the mailing list. The futures campaign begins in Bordeaux on May 1, 2023. The wines will be offered to the brokers in Bordeaux who in turn offer them to distributors around the world. The retailers buy from the distributors who then offer them to the final consumers. Expect retailers like Willow Park Wines & Spirits to offer their futures later this summer.
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