Wine: 2022 will be an exceptional vintage! Comparable to 1947 vintage! – Saving guide

2022: a historic vintage

According to experts, the 2022 vintage promises to be exceptional. A quality harvest due to the extreme heat this summer. A thick, purplish dress, freshness and aromas of candied fruit, foreshadowing a grand cru. The 2022 vintage is here. It will have to wait in oak barrels. At least one year of aging to get its full flavor, but this year’s cuvée is shaping up to be a great wine, comparable to that of 1947, which was also a drought year. “When you have this attack in the mouth and this great length, it shows the enormous potential of this vintage.“, explains François DEspagne, winemaker at Château Grand Corbin-DEspagne.

Orders are years in advance

Quality wines and a slight decrease in production, which can be explained in particular by the high temperatures this summer. High temperatures, appreciated by vines. A good harvest that could allow the 2022 vintage to join the best vintages of Bruno Baillarguet. “A good example of a great vintage to compare to 2022, I would say 1982“, believes the wine merchant. For his customers, there is no question of waiting 40 years. The order book is starting to fill up, while the wine will only be delivered in three years.

A 2022 vintage mistreated by the climate

In general, the 2022 vintage was marked by summer drought and climate changes, but this did not prevent most French regions from having again volumes worthy of the name, after particular years . According to the Statistics and Forecasting Services (SSP) and Agreste, wine production in France is estimated at 44.6 million hectares with standard precautions (as of October 1), a figure that has been revised upwards in a month. The 44.6 million hectoliters is a production 18% higher than the previously low 2021 vintage and 4% higher than the five-year average (2017-2021).

Frost and hail

Although the vagaries of the weather were less catastrophic than in 2021, they still affected the vineyards this year (frost and hail, particularly in the Southwest, the Charentais and the Loire Valley), and were overcome by winegrowers at the cost of an intense struggle.

Historic drought since 1959

By dry, we mean that July 2022 was the driest month on record since 1959 (the beginning of measurements): only 9.7 millimeters of rain fell between July 1 and July 31, 2022 compared to 90.8 mm in 2021 ( Meteo France data).

Tour de France of the regions

BORDEAUX: 2022 will be a good sunny vintage “as a result of the drought, the berries remained small for the reds with a little juice to the touch”.
BURGUNDY: 2022 is a “blessed” year: there is quantity and quality! On September 21 in Beaune, the back-to-school press conference of the Bureau interprofessionnel des vins de Bourgogne (BIVB) was held. François Labet, its president, released a 2022 vintage comparable to that of 1959, both “beautiful and generous”. Thiébault Huber, president of the Confederation of Associations and Winegrowers of Burgundy (CAVB), even speaks of a “grandiose vintage”.
RHÔNE VALLEY: a vintage anthology with rains coming at the best time. The grapes are very rich, we can expect good tannins in the reds.
CHAMPAGNE: “exceptional”, “promising” vintage. If 2021 was the wettest year in the entire history of Champagne, 2022 will be the sunniest, with 10 to 30% sunshine above the ten-year average from January to August according to Champagne Committee surveys.
LOIRE VALLEY: “an exciting vintage, from the volumes harvested to the quality of the berries obtained”.
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON: “The 2022 juice is very good, its quantity is terrible, a good -50% in the reds… -50% also in the whites, all because of the drought”. A different balance.
ALSACE: From one village to another, within a few kilometers, you can have different situations, depending on whether you are in the plains, sheltered by forests, in flowing land…”. The overall volumes are correct, and the quality is there.
JURA: the 2022 vintage clearly gives winegrowers hope.
BEAUJOLAIS: The volume will be 20% lower than the average for the last five years. As for the quality, it is pleasing! There are similarities in the great vintages 2009, 2015, 2018 and 2020. 2022 will be a signature wine year.
PROVENCE: Pre-harvest rain limited sap loss.
CORSICA: Harvests were higher than expected, favored by late summer rains.