En Primeur 2022: All Notes and Scoring System

You can find an overview of vintage conditions in the different appellations and yields here.

To see all my 2022 scores in one place, in one easy list, simply click ‘2022’ vintage on the wine search page, or click here.

Or you can look in detail at the wines split into their respective geographic location, so:

Left Bank – including Pessac Léognan, Graves, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur, Médoc, Haut-Médoc, St Estèphe, St Julien, Pauillac and Margaux
Right Bank – including St Emilion, St Emilion Grand Cru, Pomerol, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux
Whites – including Sauternes, Barsac, Pessac Léognan, Graves, Bordeaux Blanc, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux

I have added particularly notable changes within the specific regional reports, but a full What’s New in the Region is also covered separately.

Full vintage report from Professor Axel Marchal here – this is the English language version.

What can you expect in Bordeaux 2022?
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.

If you want to know what to expect, my best advice is take everything that you found with the 2021 vintage and turn it on its head. Where in 2021 winemakers were struggling to find concentration and creaminess among the light colours, low alcohols and fresh acidities of the year, in 2022 they were grappling with tiny berries, big tannins, and high phenolics, leading to some of the most consistently deep colours that I have seen in 20 years of tasting En Primeur, across all appellations, grape varieties and terroirs.

This was a year with drought, heat, even wildfires. Irrigation was allowed for the first time in big name appellations such as Pomerol and Pessac Léognan. You’ll find plenty of luscious wines, but the barrel ageing phase will need to be carefully monitored. And acidity is generally low, with ph levels that stray dangerously close to the limit of protecting against spoilage issues such as development of the Brettanomyces yeast.

You’ll hear that all of the challenges were miraculously overcome (‘we were surprised’ was the phrase of the En Primeur tastings, and a bingo card with this would have been filled up within five visits), but don’t give all wines the benefit of the doubt.Where in 2021 there was extensive chaptilisation among the reds for the first time in decades, in 2022 there was widespread acidification. In both cases, there is no prior dispensation needed (unlike with the irrigation that was also allowed in 2022 in some appellations). Instead, any château that uses the techniques in the winery had to register its use within 48 hours of the procedure.

This is not, however, the story of the vintage, and in the vast majority of cases you will find exceptional freshness in the bottles. It would be wrong to suggest that all of it comes from cellar adjustments. Unquestionably châteaux are extremely reactive today to vintage conditions, and there are numerous techniques used, from canopy management that ensures maximum shading of the berries, to rootstock changes, to cover crops intended to retain moisture – as well as, most obviously, early picking dates, with both red and white grapes often beginning their harvest in August this year. It’s also impossible to translate 2022 without understanding the impact of 2021, because this cool, rainy year replenished water sources, giving the vines access to nourishment in the far drier season that followed.

Perhaps the most sensible take on the vintage came from Pierre-Olivier Clouet at Château Cheval Blanc, when he pointed out that, ‘the vines stopped growing any new shoots and leaves early in the season because the drought started so early. 2022 was not about intelligence of the team but about intelligence of the plant’.

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.

Scoring system
This report covers more than 800 wines tasted over the past month, and you will find plenty of high scores. Always bear in mind that for me anything at 94 points or higher, you can truly feel confident in buying. My highest scores in 2022 were 98-100 points for seven red wines (Château Ausone, Château Belair-Monange, Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Beausejour Duffau-Lagarosse, Château Lafleur and Château Cheval Blanc) and 96 points for three white wines (Château Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, Pavillon Blanc and Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc).

One thing to note when reading my scores. I only give ranges with my scoring system for the potential 100 points during En Primeur (meaning 98-100). Other than that, I have chosen to continue giving a single point score as I did at Decanter. That makes me an outlier from other critics, but I believe it is more helpful for consumers. A range of 92-95+, for example, which I see regularly elsewhere, is simply not helpful when it comes to deciding whether or not to make an En Primeur purchase. Too wide a range and it’s meaningless, too narrow and I might as well make a decision. Where there is a likelihood of upscoring in bottle, I mention it in the tasting note.