The Wines | Seductive, fresh & beautifully balanced
This is a vintage which reflects the current direction of wine making in Burgundy. The wines are fabulously accessible, showing their colours early on. However, despite this ease and grace, they unquestionably have the structure and substance to guarantee longevity.
Whites | The white wines, in both Chablis and Côte d’Or, are everything growers and consumers could wish for. They reflect 2022’s warmer seasons with an appealing volume of fruit, charming yellow fruit flavours and sensible alcohol levels, around 13%. Lively and fresh, they are however lower in acidity than their 2021 counterparts.
Reds | The recurring word in my red wine notes was “polish”. The warm summer guaranteed healthy ripe fruit, but not to excess, with average alcohol levels between 13% and 13.5%. The fruit characters are classic Pinot Noir, with seductive aromatics. The tannins are silkier than in any recent vintage. Acidity levels are not high, but the wines have a rewarding mouth-watering freshness, giving both lift and energy.
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The Yields | Healthy but not over-abundant
Happily, crops were back to normal levels in 2022. While not a high yielding vintage, after the devastation of the 2021 frost and miniscule volumes, it feels like one! Most growers commented that they were back to an average harvest of the last 10 years at between 35 to 45hl/ha, appellation dependent.
The Prices | A period of price stability
Whilst we are still waiting for finalised prices, the indication from the majority of our domaines is that they will maintain their 2021 prices and in this campaign we will see no changes.
The Vignerons' Views
“if 2022 was made in the 1960s, it would have been the vintage of the century for sure. Remember, we were lucky then to get one good year in ten back then!”
Charles Audoin, Domaine Charles Audoin
“whilst 2022 was a warm and dry year, the vines showed no sign of stress so we could keep the grapes on the vines longer and harvest later than we expected, starting on 10th September”.
Etienne Grivot, Domaine Jean Grivot
“The tableau de trie was basically redundant at harvest time, the fruit was so healthy and clean”. Vincent Rapet, Domaine Rapet Père & Fils
“Freshness and precision, everything I love in my wines”.
Pauline Truchetet, Domaine Truchetet
A common theme from many growers was that, as vignerons, they must never forget their responsibility to the environment and the critical role of biodynamic and organic viticulture. They also reflected on the positive impact seasonal and temperature changes have had on the quality of their wines in recent years.
The Appellations to Watch
Marsannay | Lying just to the north of Gevrey Chambertin, for many years this village sat in the shadows of its more famous neighbour. Today, with high-performing estates such as Cyril Audoin and Ch de Marsannay, it is a great source of sophisticated red wines, offering equal quality at great value.
Côtes de Nuits Villages | For quality Côtes de Nuits Villages, look no further than Premeaux-Prissey and two of our favourite growers, Domaine de L’Arlot and Domaine Truchetet. Nuits St Georges in all but name, and Pinot Noir purity at its highest level.
Santenay and Maranges | The Côtes de Beaune’s two most southerly communes. In Santenay, Justin Girardin highlights the appellation’s credentials as a neighbour to Chassagne Montrachet, producing excellent white and red wines. In Maranges, Elodie Roy is producing beautifully perfumed Pinot Noir, having taken over her family domaine after a decade working with Anne Gros in Vosne Romanée.
The Côte Chalonnaise | New to our En Primeur listings but not to our portfolio, Vincent Charton and Domaine Tupinier Bautista highlight Mercurey for its value and terroir individuality. Charming in their youth, these can certainly progress in bottle.
The 2022 En Primeur Campaign
As always, we will be offering previews of this exciting vintage with early offers in the weeks before Christmas, focusing on our superb Chablis producers and top negociant house Roche de Bellene and Beaune superstar Louis Jadot, while the main campaign will launch in January as usual.
2022 is a dream vintage: seductive in style, healthy crop levels with consistently high quality across reds and whites, it offers a moment of reflection and price stability. We are incredibly excited for this year's campaign, and look forward to making our recommendations over the coming weeks.
