A Place Beyond Praise: Bordeaux 2022
BY NEAL MARTIN |
Left Bank: Saint-Estèphe | Pauillac | Saint-Julien | Margaux | Pessac-Léognan and Graves | Left Bank Satellites | Sauternes
Right Bank: Pomerol | Saint-Émilion | Right Bank Satellites
Introduction
Behind forced smiles and bonhomie, Bordeaux feels adrift. The response to last primeur ran the gamut from “tepid” to “What planet are you on?” This came despite price reductions that were presumed to be the panacea against a faltering campaign, against the backdrop of a gut-wrenching vine-pull scheme and a disquieting feeling of being stylistically outmoded. The Bordelais are searching for a shining light, a pick-me-up, a knight in shining armor….anything to lift their spirits.
Against this swell of despondency, Bordeaux pulled a wonderful vintage out of its silk-lined pocket.
The high points of the vintage touch the sky. Two thousand twenty-two witnessed the birth of legendary wines and unbeatable value-for-money, if it isn’t just a label that gets endorphins rushing. Flip back through the history pages and this is not the first time a lauded vintage has coincided with pervasive pessimism. Demand for the legendary 1900s was weak as everyone had spent their shillings on the 1899s. The 1945, 1947 and 1949 triumvirate had their umbilical cords cut during post-war austerity and languished unsold until the late 1950s. The 1990 vintage was a repeat of 1900 insofar that consumers had already exhausted their budgets on 1989s. The 2001s followed the millennial year and 9/11, whilst the 2019s’ eyes blinked open amidst a pandemic.
The 2022 vintage serves as a timely reminder that when Bordeaux fires on all cylinders, it is untouchable. This is not a vintage without caveats and flaws, some avoidable and others not. This report pulls no punches in pointing those out. I am aware that if price is misaligned with consumer expectations, then praise is irrelevant. Who cares if the best wines constitute future legends if they are unaffordable. It is tantamount to a waste of praise, akin to waxing lyrical about a song you will never hear, a portrait you will never see. These 2022s emerge in the market at a time when even Bordeaux’s most ardent fans have reduced the pecuniary value of a bottle of claret in their minds now that the distorting veil of speculation has been removed.
Let’s put aside the trials and tribulations of the market and remind ourselves of what Mother Nature had in store for winemakers back in 2022.
