{"id":3287,"date":"2024-05-07T13:45:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T13:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo89.wp.skiss.cc\/?p=3287"},"modified":"2025-03-07T05:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T05:34:31","slug":"bordeaux-2022-even-better-than-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winemaniacs.club\/zh\/bordeaux-2022-even-better-than-1982\/","title":{"rendered":"BORDEAUX 2022 EVEN BETTER THAN 1982?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u8be5\u6587\u7ae0\u4ec5\u6709\u82f1\u6587\u7248\u672c\uff0c\u4e0d\u4fbf\u4e4b\u5904\uff0c\u656c\u8bf7\u8c05\u89e3\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u5982\u9700\u9605\u8bfb\u76f8\u5e94\u4e2d\u6587\u5185\u5bb9\uff0c\u8bf7\u79fb\u6b65\u81f3 \u5218\u7433MW\uff1a2022\u5e74\u4efd\u6ce2\u5c14\u591a\u671f\u9152\u62a5\u544a<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo-one has ever known a vintage like 2022,\u201d said Eric Boissenot when I interviewed him this May. \u201cI was worried about waking a sleeping monster when I was tasting the grapes before harvesting,\u201d commented the discreet, highly talented winemaking consultant who has continued in the legendary footsteps of his father Jacques, consulting to nearly all the big names in the Left Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is indeed a surprising vintage. After the coldest winter of the decade, \u6ce2\u5c14\u591a <\/a>saw frost (April 3rd and 4th), hail (June 20th and 30th), and the hottest summer since 2003 combined with hydric stress, and bushfires (July 12th and August 14th).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the resulting wines are astonishingly fresh. Perhaps the fact that acidity is produced during fermentation helps to partly explain this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, in terms of sensory perception, freshness does not necessarily come from high acidity and low pH. It\u2019s like eating any fruit, the peak of freshness is when one bites into it immediately after it has been picked at optimum ripeness. Before grapes are ripe, the acidity is higher but the freshness may not be fully present. On the other hand, when grapes are overripe, the overall pleasure decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2022 wines are not just surprisingly fresh. Many are surprisingly magnificent. It is perhaps another vintage of the century, as so frequently claimed by the bordelais<\/em> in previous years that one has almost become immune. Regardless of how sarcastic it may sound, I am inclined to agree that the best wines \u2013 and happily there are many \u2013 are indeed showing the character and quality of some of the finest I have ever tasted, surpassing themselves. It should also be pointed out that quite a number of samples under performed, due to over extraction, or lack of body, or lack of balance in other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Note: I have limited tasting experience of <\/em>Bordeaux vintages<\/em><\/a> prior to 2000, lacking the vertical and horizontal tastings to have a sufficiently broad database.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What might have saved this vintage?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is perhaps an explanation. Bud burst for this vintage started on March 24th<\/sup>.  Frost (April 3rd<\/sup> and 4th<\/sup>) had moderate impact and the damage was localized. By contrast, in 2021, bud burst began a lot earlier and thus more damage was sustained. After this, the season continued with relatively homogeneous flowering (it began on May 16th<\/sup>, 10 days earlier than the average of the last decade, according to Derenoncourt Consultants), and fruit set. Pollination happened smoothly, followed by even ripening. Hydric stress built up slowly, allowing the vines to adapt to nature gradually until v\u00e9raison.<\/em> Consulting winemakers (Boissenot, Derenoncourt, Duclos, Rolland, Thunevin) commented that little growth blockage was observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly young vines under 10 years old may have suffered but it also depends on where they are situated, and also the type of rootstocks they have. Generally speaking, young vines from soil types like sand, or with less vigorous rootstock, suffer more from hydric stress,\u201d said Julien Viaud of Laboratoire Rollands & Associ\u00e9s.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Julien Viaud of Rolland Laboratoire & Associ\u00e9s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phenolic and sugar ripeness developed regularly up until harvest, when the weather was perfect: dry, with medium-warm temperatures and marginal difference between day and night. \u201cSugar ripeness came before though. We could have harvested in August if we just read the potential alcohol. But we had to wait for the phenolic ripeness to be present,\u201d said Julien Viaud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just how the vines managed to perform so extremely well under this high level of draught and heat remains something of a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could accumulated epigenetic modifications be part of the explanation? Perhaps the vines have adapted to the increasingly constant heat and hydric stress. A good lesson was learned in 2003, followed by more practice in the more recent warm, dry vintages of 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Naturally, the vines might instinctively protect themselves when there was little choice. Or perhaps plentiful rain filled the water table in the humid year that was 2021?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When tasting at \u8001\u8272\u4e39\u9152\u5e84<\/a>, winemaker Guillaume Thienpont (he prefers to be known as a vigneron<\/em>) showed me a map of his vineyards\u2019 hydric state before harvest 2022. His data concluded that the vines resisted even better in 2022 than in 2020, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature is indeed fascinating, and full of surprises.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Guillaume Thienpont<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the vines to the barrel:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a chronological flashback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If one only looks at the figures in the technical report, the 2022 vintage appears mixed with some highs as well as some lows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n