2022s: Past the Halfway Mark

I have now completed the first half of my 2022 tastings, with numerous domaines visited and the wines still relatively early in their development. So here is my mid-point assessment of the vintage, and after having looked at my initial view of the ’22s, I think the evaluation then was pretty accurate.

Overall, the wines are open and generous, with charming, lively fruit. The acidity is mostly adequate, meaning the ’22s seem well-balanced after the first part of their elevage.

The question is however … will they keep ….

Currently, it’s uncertain how complex and/or delicate the best of them will be. My feeling is that they could end up being a more impressionistic version of 2019, with broader strokes and a more relaxed style. In other words, potentially wines for hedonistic drinkers. 

There is no doubt that 2019 is the superior vintage, both in complexity and intensity. But the 2022s are drinking well, and showing plenty of joyful fruit.

The bottom line is that the ’22s seem to have good balance and a quite generous – but still fresh, if not lively – structure.

The ’22 will likely provide more hedonistic joy than either 2018 or 2020. The definitive comparison with 2019 is now settled as the ’19s win on most parameters. The 2022s do, however, have lovely hedonistic qualities. I hope they continue after bottling.

One open question is the wines’ energy. That seems a bit more variable, depending on clone, vineyard, viticulture, and vinification. Neither is the acidity a strong point, but somehow, freshness prevails.

With the ’22 reds, the wines are deeper and more profound than the lovely 2017s, although with some of the same immediate charm – and perhaps even more of it. They should provide many vins de soif, and genuinely hedonistic bottles.

Yields are shaping the character and expression

For those who followed the harvest closely, it’s clear that yields were abundant, and that only mandated limits and cellar space set the boundaries to a great wine feast.

High yields are sometimes possible without visible cost, and some tremendous wines have been made in years with yields well above normal, i.e. 40-45 hectolitres/hectare for the reds, and more for the whites. For white wines, the maximum-yield rules are simply for setting the scene, and many times during the 2022 harvest I heard talk of yields close to the limit – with more grapes still on the vines.

However, sometimes higher yields come at a cost, and 2009 is a perfect example, as its wines’ details and complexity were often reduced as yields rose. While this can lead to more hedonistic wines, it also gives them a more easygoing nature at the cost of longer-term seriousness. 

This could well be the result in 2022: a vintage of celebration and abundance, and vins de soif. The question remains as to whether the ’22s’ acidity is high enough to balance the relatively ripe fruit and maintain the freshness and energy that characterise vins de soif.

High pH = low acidity

Acidity levels can be on the low side in 2022, depending on when the fruit was picked. And while elevage has given certain wines more focus and even freshness, some can be problematic.

What’s worse, however, is that pH values post-malo went through the roof in some wineries. Levels of pH at 3.8, 3.9, or even 4.0 and above are not good for a wine’s stability. Put another way, this is a good condition for several potential problems -Brettanomyces and volatile acidity, just to mention two.

Some very prominent producers had an issue with pH, and some have already acidified accordingly to stabilize the situation.

It is a vintage if there ever was one where the handling of the elevage is of utmost importance.

Mid-point view

I like the 2022s. They paint a hedonistic and impressionistic picture of indulgence and joy. This is always good.

Some of them lack some mid-palate intensity, but this is excusable, as they are charming. The lack of complexity is also to be expected with high yields.

Clearly, the acidity and therefore balance are question marks, and the wines could have benefitted from higher natural acidity. But elevage can do a lot of good, as can the high yields, as was proved with some of the higher-yield 2018 whites which nonetheless turned out very well indeed.

Let’s see when I taste the whites at the start of next year.