Bordeaux 2022: The en primeur report

B RDEAUX 2022

“There is little doubt that the best wines in 2022 are stunningly brilliant”

ANTONIO GALLONI

“2022 is a vintage that will be referenced for many years to come, and I’ve tasted many exceptional wines that are truly worth getting JANE ANSON excited about”

“At its best, this is a vintage of remarkable concentration, energy and harmony”

WILLIAM KELLEY

“The highest performers They will be extroverts, whose talent cannot Freddie Mercury strutting

...The best will rock

performers will dazzle. extroverts, show-offs cannot be denied. They’re strutting the stage... rock you .” NEAL MARTIN

01.

2022: AN INTRODUCTION

Tasting Bordeaux en primeur is not easy,

so

the biggest compliment I can pay the 2022 vintage is that is was a joy to taste. In a packed schedule which I extended so as to try as many wines as possible, it was not uncommon to taste 120-150 wines a day, but instead of palate fatigue I was enchanted by the overwhelming majority of those wines. Is 2022 as good as people have said it is? Absolutely. This is a superb vintage and whilst it is perhaps not uniformly accomplished as 2010 and 2016 were, the overwhelming majority of Châteaux that I tasted have made excellent wines which will doubtless be a total joy to drink in the years to come, from £10 bottles all the way up to the First Growths.

A reminder for those that have not yet read my pre-primeurs blog post that 2022 was an extremely hot and largely dry year, placing vines under enormous hydric stress. Never one to shy away from a marketing challenge, I heard the phrase ‘solar vintage’ espoused several times throughout en primeur week, plus the French word for ‘dry’! However, whilst the hottest days (and there were many above forty degrees) were much hotter than the rolling 30-year average, the daily lowest temperature remained in step with the average, meaning that diurnal range was huge, with cooler nighttime temperatures enabling the vines to calm down and for the grapes to maintain acidity. I believe it is this facet of the vintage, even more than the godsend of a downpour in June to give the vines much needed water, that contributed to balanced wines.

Above: With Veronique Dausse of Phelan Segur at the Fête du Bontemps, the curtain closer to en primeur week

Bottom right: Tasting Cheval Blanc & Quinault l’Enclos, two stars of the Right Bank

Following last year’s largely average vintage (incidentally heralded by the bordelais as a ‘classical’ vintage), which was at times hard to taste, my experience of the 2022s has been of incredibly fruit forward, ripe wines, with opulent perfumes and huge structure. Wines which did have the vineyard positioning, agronomic acumen, and technical knowhow to deal with all that ‘solar’ 2022 threw at them were an absolute delight to taste, with intoxicating aromas, intense fruit ripeness, confident structure and persistent finishes.

This is undoubtedly an excellent vintage, with some properties making their finest wines ever, but it would be churlish to suggest that it offers the sort of uniform excellence seen in truly outstanding vintages like 2016 or 2010. This heterogeneity makes it more important than ever to quiz your wine broker, as some wines you’ve been offered every year may not quite hit the same highs in 2022. Be wary, too, of merchants who insist that all wines will be ‘superb investment grade wines’ whose value will be sure to appreciate over time. Never has detailed analysis of release prices and recent market trends been more important in making judgement calls on wines worth keeping as assets. The price increases we’ve seen already (30% up at Chateau Angelus!) mean you need to demand data when merchants use the brilliance of 2022 as a smokescreen to try and shift wines which may not deliver a return you are promised.

But overall, I was enchanted by 2022, with my scores hitting the mercury at 100 points more than a few times: it was reassuring to see that all the major critics have followed suit! A triptych of vine evolution, agronomic advance and winemaking technology ensured that 2022 will go down as a wonderful vintage with swathes of excellent wines which will in many cases give enormous drinking pleasure almost immediately and in the decades to come. Priced sensibly, and Lord knows that the en primeur system could do with attractive pricing given the rising interest rates, many of these wines with accompanying high scores could also end up as valuable assets, too.

My recommendation for this vintage is to buy at all levels, subject to release prices, with wines like Beaumont, Batailley, Phelan Segur, Berliquet and Quinault L’Enclos offering sumptuous drinking pleasure for a fraction of the price of the usual suspects at the top of the tree. If you have any questions or require any buying advice, then please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Dominic Brennan

02.

VINTAGE REPORT

is an outlier of a vintage in that

not just supremely hot,

also very dry, one of the driest years on record: a remarkable 38 days saw temperatures of 32˚C plus. The graph above, produced by the brilliant Gavin Quinney of Château Bauduc, shows how stark the numbers were in 2022, with seven out of eight months seeing substantially less rain than the 30-year average, and seven out of eight months seeing temperatures well above the 30 year norm. More heat and less water led to extreme vine stress, only saved by biblical amounts of rain at the end of June – quite literally a Godsend. It was this timely deluge which proved critical, with the rainwater seeping into the underlying terroirs. Properties over clay or limestone fared extremely well, with those soils able to retain the water for use by the vines in those drought-hit months whereas gravelly & sandy soils which drain more freely were less ideal.

The chart on the opposite page shows the extreme average temperatures throughout the growing season in 2022, with most months well above the 10 & 30-year averages, and some months (in gold) the highest temperatures recorded. In the heat the vines struggled, producing fewer bunches of smaller berries with thick skins though it was the cooler night-time temperatures which thankfully remained low which gave the wines much needed respite in the evenings, helping, more than anything else, the grapes to maintain freshness.

2022

is was

but

The previous 2021 vintage which saw cooler temperatures and lots of rain ended up setting 2022 on the best possible course for growth ahead, with water reserves under the soil topped up, ready to be utilised in the hottest months. One pertinent question is why the 2022 vintage didn’t end up going the way of the overcooked 2003 and the answer is that the vines themselves had to adapt from the very start of the season, with unusually warm temperatures setting the standard. Agronomic advances in the past 19 years cannot be dismissed either, with a pivot towards sustainable and even biodynamic viticulture and a reduction in synthetic sprays making for much healthier, more mineral rich soils. As vintages have got hotter since (the triptych of 2018, 2019 and 2020 come to mind), the winemakers and farmers have adapted to solar impact, being able to judge on recent experience when is best to pick, often doing so on a precision basis, plot by plot.

Whilst 2022 is not quite a uniformly excellent vintage, given the extreme climactic events that occurred throughout 2022, vines, growers and winemakers have all excelled in acclimatising to years of extreme heat. The oldest and most experienced vines were able to both reach the deepest into deposits of water and to ration its use, ensuring optimum vine health. Growers had to be particularly mindful of canopy management and utilise other techniques to prevent the grapes from getting sunburnt, and from Pontet Canet’s biodynamic sun cream to Berliquet’s higher leaf canopies to provide more shade, most estates did sterling work in the vineyard. Finally, the teams in wineries across Bordeaux had to treat the juice with kid gloves, avoiding high fermentation temperatures and introducing cold soaking and other cooling techniques to ensure that the juice didn’t over extract colour and tannins from the grape skins, and that acidity and freshness was maintained.

The results are overwhelmingly impressive and point to the vast advances in knoweldge and technology across the region, which enabled estates to make opulent wines with tons of freshness.

03.

CRITICAL CONSENSUS

Critics have all now chimed in with their views on the 2022 vintage,

with all agreeing that the vintage’s quality & freshness was a surprise given the extreme weather conditions during the growing season. There was unanimous agreement that 2022 contains number potentially perfect wines, and some of the best offerings from particular châteaux ever, though all agree that the vintage lacks the uniform excellence of vintages like 2016 and 2010. A selection of critical highlights can be found below.

Neal Martin, Vinous

“Is 2022 the real deal? Kind of. Depends. Yeah, I guess so. The 2022 vintage contains what I often refer to as “snow-capped peaks”. If you want to get numerical, wines that may eventually merit perfect scores that I rarely give out. The creme de la creme is blessed with kaleidoscopic aromatics, intense fruit, finely-sculpted tannins, structure, elegance and length. Above all, contrary to waht the growing season implied, they are sufused with freshness. They immediately tempt you back to the glass for another sip. The highest performers will dazzle. They will be extroverts, show-offs whose talent cannot be denied. They’re not warbling Neil Youngs.

They’re Freddie Mercury strutting the stage. The best will rock you”.

Above: Neal Martin was once again voted by the trade in a poll by Liv-Ex as the most influential wine critic

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“Everyone who has tasted the wines will agree that the quality and character of the 2022 vintage in Bordeaux is a surprise. How did conditions so extreme deliver wines of such aromatic range and freshness? How can wines of such density and structure exhibit such textural refinement and charm? Bordeaux has produced some monumental wines in 2022, but unlike many of the great vintages of the 20th century, the year was not a rising tide that raised all boats [though] at its best, this is a vintage of remarkable concentration, energy and harmony”.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

“This is, however much you try to resist the term, an extraordinary vintage. It’s not one without challenges, and the words ‘earliest harvest since 1893’ tend to scare off most people who look for balance in their wines. Looking back on the past month of tasting, there’s no doubt there’s drama here, in many cases way too much of it. But there is also plenty to love, and slowly but surely, these wines have won me over. One thing for sure is that 2022 is a vintage that will be referenced for many years to come, and I’ve tasted many exceptional wines that are truly worth getting excited about”.

Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com

“The most common word to describe these embryonic 2022s? ‘Surprising’. Just what was going on in the millions of Merlot and Cabernet vines growing in the Gironde department? The wines are certainly extremely impressive. After such a hot summer, there is no escaping the fairly high alcohol levels – typically over 14% – even if some vines stopped ripening for a certain period when conditions became just too hot and dry for photosynthesis to continue. But the lack of rain staved off the fungal diseases to which vines are prone so the grapes were reliably healthy, and the weather was so fine during late August and September that estate managers could decide exactly when each plot of each variety should ideally be picked, rather than being rushed by the threat of rain. But the fact that the wines are so impressive, and relatively consistent (even those from properties on well-drained soils that one would expect to suffer most in a drought year), will presumably encourage proprietors in their usual habit of increasing prices every year”.

04.

WHY BUY EN PRIMEUR?

The en primeur system or ‘wine futures system’ is the yearly ‘betting’ on wine futures

that takes place in April when journalists, critics and wine buyers from around the world descend upon Bordeaux to give their prognosis on the most recent vintage, following which the Châteaux, in consultation with a courtier (or broker), set their prices accordingly, releasing them to the wider market around 12-18 months before the wines are physically available.

For many centuries the exchange was purely between local merchants and châteaux, but since the late 1970s the system has become increasingly public-facing. The rise to prominence of Robert Parker Jr as critic-in-chief established a link between unbiased critic and end buyer, with the 100-point scoring system providing an easy to understand rating for each wine, with 100 ostensibly marking out ‘perfection’.

For wine lovers, en primeur was a guaranteed method of securing top clarets ahead of the rest of the market. The normal increase in value of the wine between en primeur sale and physical bottle in a shop in, say, London, meant that often the approach of buying two cases of wine ensured you could eventually sell the second at a premium, allowing you to drink the first case at a heavily subsidised cost. As the Place de Bordeaux has grown in scope, with hundreds of châteaux coming in under its umbrella, it continues to offer wine lovers access to the top wines, but also a slew of smaller, hidden gems which have gone on to become much loved favourites of the claret-drinking set: Beaumont, Batailley, Grand Puy Lacoste etc.

Above: Petit Mouton, one of several tremendous ‘second wines’ in 2022.

For investors, the futures system plays into the key fundamentals of Fine Wine investment, exacerbating both the brand positioning of top wines, which are offered on sought-after allocations, and the inverse supply curve which drives the value of this alternative investment asset, with decreasing allocations increasing the scarcity of top wines. Over recent years the châteaux have held back increasing quantities of stock to release years down the line at a premium, squeezing the stocks for negociants and driving up prices.

Recent vintages have shown that en primeur still offers tons of value to drinkers and investors alike, but so much depends on the pricing of the vintage by the châteaux: price keenly like the 2019 vintage, released during the early stages of a global pandemic, and the vintage will offer enticing value, but this can have a knock on effect to back vintages, as it did the 2017 vintage, an altogether less successful year which was suddenly priced at a premium to a superior 2019, devaluing it rapidly (though the wines are, in my opinion, wonderful to drink).

My approach is to only offer wines which I truly feel add value. For drinking wines that means those we loved tasting and which the critics did, too, whilst investment-grade wines must meet strict criteria, based on score and release price (more on on this on the next page). Arguably the best aspect of en primeur is receiving cases of wine you paid for two years previously: always a wonderful, vinous surprise!

Château Montrose 2009 has appreciated by 92% since release in 2010, or over 7% per annum, demonstrating the benefits of buying wine en primeur and holding onto it for the longer term.

05.

EXPLAINING LIV-EX’S FAIR VALUE

When judging which wines offer value for money

I employ a suite of proprietary data tools which mark amongst other things the scores from the leading critic (Neal Martin of Vinous) and other top critics (William Kelley of The Wine Advocate & Jane Anson, formerly Decanter’s Bordeaux critic but now running her own website Inside Bordeaux), the release price, the reduction in allocations & general production numbers. I then benchmark this data against back vintages of the wines in question, comparing the price performance of both similar vintages, and similarly-rated iterations of the wine.

Underpinning my decisionmaking is Liv-Ex’s ‘Fair Value’ tool. In their own words its “methodology represents a useful approach to pricing wines. It uses regression analysis to measure the relationship between price and quality and establish the fair price of a wine based on its critic score and vintages already available in the market. Where there is a correlation (R-squared) between the scores and prices of over 50%, the trend line suggests a wine’s ‘Fair Value’”.

For example, the graph above plots the Fair Value data for Château Léoville Las Cases, whose 2022 wine is yet to be released.

With a potentially perfect score of 99 (98-100) points from leading critic, Neal Martin, ‘fair value’ would be a release at £2,660 per 12x75cl, or below, incidentally the same price as the 2016 vintage, which was not scored as highly. Last year the wine was released at £1,880 and if the property increased prices by 30% (only seen at Angelus so far), the wine would still represent excellent value. I will monitor this data throughout the en primeur campaign, to ensure Clos delivers true value to those buying the 2022s.

Above: Petit Mouton, one of several tremendous ‘second wines’ in 2022.

PICKS OF THE VINTAGE

Now that I have tasted all the key wines & cross-referenced my scores with the critics,

a picture has emerged for me of which wines are the finest in each appellation at all ends of the pricing scale. As wines continue to be released over the next two months, I will analyse release price data to ascertain which wines offer you, the consumer, the best value for money, whether they be for drinking or laying down as an asset.

Over the next few pages I have selected two standout wines from six main regions of Bordeaux, excluding Pomerol. Where a wine fulfilled my criteria, I have aimed to include a value wine (ordinarily under £750 per 12 bottles). On these pages you’ll find an overview of each wine, complete with recent market data and critical scores, Jane Anson’s view from her seminal book Inside Bordeaux, plus information about the respective producers and my own views of their 2022 offering.

If you have particular wines you’d like to register an interest in, whether or not they are included in the following pages, then please don’t hesitate to contact me via info@closfinewine.com

I cover some of my wines of the vintage in my video report, now live on YouTube which you can access by clicking on this link.

Above: Cheval Blanc, my wine of the vintage. The critics agreed, all giving it a potentially perfect score

CHÂTEAU PHÉLAN SÉGUR

95-97 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

Aged in 55% new oak, it has an enticingly pure bouquet with blackberry & bilberry fruit, blackcurrant, iris flower & light iodine scents. Very intense & focussed. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, a liberal sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper laced over the black fruit. A quintessentially Saint-Estèphe with a structured & very persistent finish. Allowing the wine to open in the glass it reveals impressive depth (more so than the 2019 & 2020) and precision. This will require several years in bottle, but it will certainly be worth the wait.

This is a definite star in the appellation, a former Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, and in my mind would make it into a new version of the 1855 classification if one ever came around. You can expect huge consistency - always a mark of a great estate - and plenty of character: finessed tannins... excellent ageing ability & a raft of complex flavours.

Philippe Van de Vyvere, a Belgian who made his fortune in shipping bought Phélan Ségur in 2017, instigating a immediate focus on sustainability and precision viticulture, which uses GPS and drones to micro manage plots of vines which average 35 years old. A 4.5ha walled plot around the château is farmed entirely organically.

There are strong nods to the Irish heritage of this property, which was created by Bernard O’Phelan, who left Tipperary at the end of the 18th Century.

For the second year in a row I was blown away by this inexpensive Saint-Estèphe awarding it 94-96+ points noting its “incredible kaleidoscope of crushed briar fruits, peony, wild mint, cedar & Szechuan pepper. Gorgeously ripe and velvety smooth on the palate, the finish is very long lived: super”. This is absolutely one of the gems of the 2022 vintage and one not to miss!

CHÂTEAU MONTROSE

97-99 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

It has an extremely pure nose with black cherries & blueberry. Quite floral in style with hints of blood orange percolating through with time. The palate is very precise with exceptional mineralité and tension. Very focused, superb concentration, with what is becoming Montrose’s trademark sense of symmetry and sustained aftertaste, this could be the finest Saint-Estèphe in 2022.

Long seen as the First Growth of St-Estèphe, for reasons that extend far beyond the hiring of two ex-First Growth directors. Montrose makes wines that show a classic, muscular and long-living interpretation of the appellation. A sum of painstaking detauls that have helped to make a wine, long known for its ageing ability, fleshed out, polished, & given every chance of success. Hard not to get excited about what is going on here these days.

The Bouygues family have been the owners of Montrose since 2006 and they have overseen extensive development of the estate, most notably the 10,000sq-metre cellars completed in 2013 which dive six metres below ground and are replete with green techniques, from geothermal energy to photovoltaic panels.

Montrose 2022 was unanimously one of the highest scoring wines of the vintage, with all critics united in admiration for an exceptional offering.

Montrose’s close proximity to the river (right) has been a feather in its cap in warmer years & increased focus on terroirs has led to more opulent wines. I gave Montrose a potentially perfect 98-100 points, admiring its “gorgeous floral notes, blackcurrant leaf, iris & blackberry preserve. Fruit is extraordinary on the palate & there is purity, precision & freshness on a long, exciting finish.”

CHÂTEAU LYNCH BAGES

95-97 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

This is not as immediate as the 2016 or 2019 at the same stage. Powerful blackberry & boysenberry fruit, cedar and light tobacco notes, this feels like an edifice of aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins, beautifully balanced, very harmonious yet there is an enormous backbone here that (again) is reminiscent of Mouton [Rothschild]. Extremely long on the finish, this will need its barrel maturation to fully knit together and it is going to be a Pauillac for the long haul.

Another Pauillac Super-Second that has demonstrated how hard work, passionate engagement in winemaking and serious investment in micro-managing their soils can elevate what was already a great wine to something quite exceptional. New techniques such as drones, satellites and GPS fine-tune their understanding of the land: all of this allows extraordinarily precise work.

Lynch Bages has a large and loyal following in the UK and it is a wine that is at home in restaurants & members clubs across London as it is nestled in investment portfolios, delivering consistent returns.

Held for the medium to longer term of five years or longer, Lynch Bages delivers, with the nine physical vintages from 2011-2019 appreciating on average by 6.4% per annum.

I thought the 2022 offering from the Cazes family was tremendous, awarding it 97-99 points writing, “A nose of fireside hearth, graphite, hoisin, terracotta, blackcurrant & wild mint: a kaleidoscope of colours. On the palate there is exquisite balance with supremely ripe and well-integrated tannins alongside confident structure and a real mineral backbone. There is spice and acidity abound on the finish. Exceptional”. Those that can grab some Lynch Bages in 2022 should.

CHÂTEAU GRAND PUY LACOSTE

96-98 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

I“[There is] more precocity & sensuality compared to other vintages. Underlying this velvety veneer are enticing traits of freshly-rolled tobacco & undergrowth. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-sculpted tannins. Silky smooth in texture, so much so that it belies that backbone underneath. There is a peacock’s tail of mineral-rich, quite peppery black fruit on the finish, completing a Pauillac endowed with huge potential.”

GPL as it is invariably known, might just be the only 1855 estate in Bordeaux unchanged in size & location since the time of the ranking. It is also one of the few in Pauillac to have its vines in a single plot around the château - also to have its owners living here full time. And if all that isn’t enough continuity for you, even the harvesters have been coming from the same Spanish village for the past half-century: Valdepeñas de Jaén in Andalucia. Undoubtedly one of the wines of the appellation, [it delivers] consistency and power without going over the top.

Grand Puy Lacoste’s rise has gone under the radar, such is its enduring status as a reliable, value Pauillac. But in the background investments in the vineyard and winery have seen a slew of high scores in recent years, culminating in leading critic, Neal Martin, awarding the 2022 vintage 96-98 points.

What makes this even more remarkable is that this is the same score awarded to neighbouring Pauillac First Growth, Château Lafite Rothschild, a wine which will sell for up to nine times more!

I thought GPL was brilliant in 2022 admiring its “intoxicating aromas of wild mint, violets, boysenberry, flecks of black olive, pencil shavings & pink pepper. On the palate there is juicy fruit and a sensuous mouthfeel and a finish that percolates for ages”. This is a wine not to miss in 2022 under any circumstances.

CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES

98-100 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

Precocious, almost decadent blackberry & blueberry fruit on the nose, there is something lavish & audacious about this Saint-Julien. There is an underlying estuarine element, a whiff off the banks of the Gironde. The palate is medium-bodied with polished tannins, very detailed, extremely pure, what you might call a “vertical” Las Cases with fabulous precision on the finish. This surpasses the 2018-2020 trio and to use that clichéd expression, is a “tour de force”.

You want structure, confidence and longevity, you come here. The Léoville estate dates to the 1630s with the Marquis de Las Cases owner at the time of the French Revolution, when the estate was seized and split first into two, then three, parts. This is a wine that is often compared to its Pauillac neighbour Latour in profile, and is known for its ability to age – and then some more.

I have a particulalr soft spot for Léoville Las Cases, as I do any estate that features a Clos, our namesake. But here the Clos is very much the heart of the old estate, where vines grow on peyrosol gravel that is ten metres deep in some places.

The estate has an almost molecular level understanding of its own terroirs, underetaking detailed studies to uncover that the estsate features 16 different types of gravel, allowing them to treat these areas as individual parcels, and attend to the vines accordingly.

I tasted the 2022 with the winemaker at Ch. Nenin in Pomerol (one of the other estates in the Delon stable) and was enchanted, giving it a potential perfect score, and noting, "there is a cerebral nose that opens up with aeration, with blackberries, black plum & pink pepper. The palate shows delicious fruit profile and well-integrated tannins. Utterly superb.

CHÂTEAU GRUAUD LAROSE

95-97 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

An impressive bouquet with pure blackberry & raspberry fruit, black truffle and sous-bois scents. I am impressed by its delineation & focus; frankly, these are the nicest aromatics I’ve encountered for a while at this address. The palate is medium bodied with fine-grain tannins. I cannot remember a Gruaud at this nascent stage that exhibits this level of energy & tension. There’s much more precision here. Mineral-driven toward the finish, this easily surpasses vintages made at the estate over the last decade & more. Perhaps like the legendary Gruauds of old (1982, 1961, 1928, even 1870)? Gruaud reborn.

A wine made with long ageing firmly in mind, almost always using a full 80 per cent of new oak for ageing, its fine gravels can reach down five metres on parts of the St Julien plateau. Today the château leads the way in green practices. 2018 saw a greater shift towards biodynamics, with a flock of 300 sheep used to keep grass under control between the rows during the winter months, as well as providing natural compost.

Gruaud Larose, as Jane Anson notes in her book, has been something of a green trailblazer in Bordeaux, quietly going about its business and investing heavily in biodynamics to ensure that the soil is rich in minerals and healthy. The full 82ha was converted to biodynamics in 2019 and certified (a long, arduous, and expensive that most estates eschew) in 2021.

Pesticides & insecticides haven’t been used since the 1990s and the current holistic approach sees organic compost, water recycling, homeopathic treatments for vineyard diseases and vineyard workers who look after a specific small plot each, managing it on a micro basis.

I too awarded Gruaud Larose 95-97 points marvelling at its floral nose and confident, assured structure. This will surely be one of the vinous bargains of the vintage.

CHÂTEAU BRANE CANTENAC

96-98 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

It is well-defined and fresh, a very subtle Margaux, precise with blackberry, wild strawberry, cedar & tobacco scents. As previous vintages have proven, there’s a kind of “hidden depth” that will become apparent post-bottling. The palate is medium bodied with supple tannins, very elegant & unashamedly classic in style. This is blessed with haunting poise, composed & detailed on the finish. This Margaux is not a showstopper, which in any case is not really [their] signature style. Instead, it is a wine that 15 to 20 years down the road, you are going to treasure.

Brane is never the most showy of wines, and yet it has rightly become one of the most sought-after names in Margaux, impressing through its beautiful layering of aromatics & textured, confident fruit. These qualities are perfectly encapsulated in the 2005, 2015 and even in vintages like the undervalued 2011 & 2012. Owner Henri Lurton has a Masters in biology, another in ampelography & an oenology diploma.

Attention to detail is the mantra at Brane Cantenac, it seems, under Henri Lurton's stewardship. In the last few years alone, the estate has undertaken extensive soil studies to ensure that grape variety and rootstock are matched well to specific soil types throughout their vineyard.

In researching this spotlight on Brane, I couldn't quite believe the current market prices for recent vintages, which average £45 a bottle in bond. For a wine that in 2022 flies as close to the sun of critical perfection as possible, anything under £60 can be considered an utter bargain.

I imagine therefore that this will be one of the vinous stars of the appellation, especially considering that First Growth neighbour, Château Margaux, scored the exact same 96-98 point score from Neal Martin, but will likely cost ten times as much!

CHÂTEAU GISCOURS

95-97 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

It has a delightful and sensual bouquet with lifted, violet & peony-scented blueberry & black cherry fruit. This is very well-defined and perhaps the purest I have encountered from barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with a disarming silky texture, harmonious & focussed. It’s mineral-driven with a poised & pixelated finish. Certainly, this represents one of the best wines from this Margaux estate in recent years, echoing their golden period of the 60s and early 70s.

Driving up the famous Route des Châteaux through the Médoc, Giscours offers the first combination of wrought-iron gates/fountains/ sweeping driveway that tells you that you have really arrived in wine country. Through those gates is a stunning estate which under Eric Albada’s stewardship makes wines that have taken on a far more structures, masculine & powerful feel over the past decade in particular, and which has been better received as a result.

In the weeks leading up to en primeur week, as I chatted to various negociants about the wines they'd tasted so far, there was one château that consistently came up as the ‘insider’s tip’ for a property that had probably made its finest wine ever: Château Giscours.

Taking these tips with a judicious slab of salt, I was nevertheless intrigued to see what Giscours could do in a warmer year like 2022. Well, I needn’t have doubted my vinous friends, as it is the finest Giscours that I’ve ever tasted, and it certainly has the potential to be their greatest ever.

When tasting I noted “floral nose of violets & peony which gives way to pomegranate, boysenberry, black plum, oyster shell & graphite. Tannins are ripe with fantastic acidity and excellent tension on the palate & there is unerring freshness to this Giscours which persists on the finish. Excellent".

CHÂTEAU LA MISSION HAUT BRION

97-99 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

A very refined bouquet with mineral-driven dark berry fruit, hints of Earl Grey and freshly-rolled tobacco, focused with exquisite delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins that still provide the backbone to what is the most elegant La Missions that I have tasted at this stage. It is harmonious & silky toward its extremely persistent finish. At the moment, it has got its nose just in front of its First Growth sibling… at least at the moment. For sure, it’s going to be one of the standouts of the 2022 vintage.

It was only in 1983 that La Mission Haut Brion was bought by the owners of neighbouring Haut Brion, but the two properties have been linked since the year 1540. This is a wine that I would make a First Growth if the 1855 classification were not only to re-drawn, but also expanded outside of the Médoc. The wine itself tends to be dense in structure, full of intense brambly fruits and serious tannins giving ageability, just as with its sibling estate, but often shows more floral aromatics and overall grace.

Tasting at La Mission Haut Brion is one of the treats of en primeur week, not just because of the beautiful surroundings of the château but because or the rare opportunity to try two goliaths side-byside in La Mission Haut Brion and First Growth, Haut Brion.

One of the remarkable things about the vineyards of La Mission is that they are very much in an urban landscape, hugging a main road on one side, and the TGV line on the other. As such, ambient temperatures in the walled vineyard tend to be a touch higher than in estates in the appellation. The challenge in a warm year like 2022 is ensuring that the extra temperature doesn’t negatively impact the wine, which thankfully it did not. Choosing between La Mission Haut Brion and Haut Brion is near impossible in this vintage, both are must buys if you can get your hands on them, but for me La Mission is a nose ahead, just.

CHÂTEAU LES CARMES HAUT BRION

96-98 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

It is extremely precise on the nose with blackberry, briary, crushed stone and hints of curry leaf. The palate is just beautiful. Sculpted tannins, fine-boned, lending this Les Carmes unerring symmetry and focus. This is loaded with mineral-laden dark berry fruit and feels seamless toward the finish. I am not inclined toward hyperbole, nevertheless, this is the best Les Carmes that Guillaume Pouthier has overseen.

As close as Bordeaux gets to a true urban winery; you can get here on the tram from the city centre. This has been a wine that I have championed for a number of years, and am thrilled to see it gaining ever-wider recognition. In the vineyard is the highest proportion of Cabernet Franc, at 45%, on the Left Bank: this can make it taste a little austere in early years, but gives a wonderful spicy finish and superb ageing ability.

I visited Les Carmes Haut Brion twice in April, to get to know their winemaking philosophy, where sustainability is the driving force. The property was owned by the Carmelites until the French Revolution, hence the ‘Carmes’ in the name.

Once a well-kept secret in Bordeaux, each vintage release is now snapped up in seconds, though prices still hover around £1,000 for twelve bottles: not bad when similarly scored neighbours go for three or four times as much.

I was utterly blown away by the 2022 offering, awarding a potentially perfect 97-100 points and noting, “boysenberry, briar fruit, juniper, wild mint, peony & cedar on the nose. The palate is absolutely extraordinary: cashmere-soft tannins, ripe fruit leads the way, straddling a perfect balance between precision & opulence. The acidity is amazing, especially on the persistent finish"

CHÂTEAU CHEVAL BLANC

98-100 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2022 Cheval Blanc is a lucid, deep purple colour. With profound intensity on the nose, this Cheval offers blackcurrant, blue fruit, iris petals, crushed stone and incense aromas. It is blessed with breath-taking delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with seamless tannins. There is palpable verticality in the Cheval, almost “correct” and “strict”, yet endowed with stunning depth & complexity. The Cabernets are clearly in the driving seat here and lend it Left Bank allure. Consequently, while it is not the most flamboyant Cheval Blanc I have tasted at this stage, it constitutes a wine for those serious about their Bordeaux. It will give the same satisfaction as when you finish reading a literary masterpiece.

Historically, Cheval Blanc has always been a leading estate in St-Emilion, dating back at least to the 16th century, and enlarged after the French Revolution by plots purchased from neighbouring Ch. Figeac. The focus on aromatics –and particularly with Merlot on gravel – also explains why picking dates tend to be early for Cheval. Its easily one of the greatest wines of the region although it doesn’t always receive the same revered status as Ausone for some reason.

Cheval Blanc, owned by the goliath LVMH group, was once seen as a very good, but ultimately seriously over-priced wine from the Right Bank in Bordeaux. Thankfully, a change in philosophy starting with the 2019 vintage has seen much more attractive pricing, whilst the quality, thankfully, continues to rise.

As if to illustrate how sensible pricing can turn a highly-rated wine into an asset that delivers, that 2019 vintage has already appreciated in value by 32% since release.

Cheval Blanc is my wine of the vintage, and it has everything, from intoxicating aromatics, to confident structure and a seemingly endless finish. Quantities are likely to be small, but this is certainly a wine that everyone should try and get hold of. A second wine (Petit Cheval) was not made in 2022, with all grapes going into the Grand Vin.

CHÂTEAU CANON

96-98 points

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2022 Canon has a beautifully-defined bouquet with plumes of blackberry, raspberry, and subtle violet flower scents. The palate is very fresh on the entry, announcing a relatively linear Canon. The limestone terroir seeps into every pore of this Saint-Émilion. This is one of the more intellectual & saline Canon wines in recent years. A triumph in such a hot growing season, elevated by its limestone soils.

All the grace & power that the plateau of St Émilion can deliver, dealt out slowly & precisely, with juicy blueberry fruits, fresh mint and a mineral grip to the finish. A wine that has been transformed over the past decade by careful vineyard work and ever more precise attentions in the cellar, and that leads the way in the resurgence of terroir studies in Bordeaux. Canon is stunningly situated, with views over two church spires and dry-stone walls that lace the top of the plateau forming ribbons between the vines.

I must profess I profound bias for the wines of Château Canon which have consistently delighted me during en primeur tastings for years. It is rare that the very essence of an estate, from its winemaking philosophy to its dry-stone wall-lined terroirs translates into the wine itself, but Canon manages it time and again, with wines of incredible purity of fruit, minerality and structural elegance.

It will come as no surprise then when I gave Canon 2022 a potentially perfect 98-100 points (the Wine Advocate gave it 99-100 points) writing, "Stunningly beautiful perfume of rose petal, fresh mint, blood orange, strawberry compote, raspberry, pomegranate, blueberry and red cherry. It is so supple on the palate, with cashmere-soft tannins giving a velvety texture which belies the serious mineral structure. Acidity is exceptional and the finish is persistent, fruity & mouthwatering: Superb".

© Clos Fine Wine Ltd.