Bordeaux 2022 Focus: Top 10 Value Reds

Bordeaux's excellent 2022 vintage features no shortage of great-value reds that are already available on the market. While evaluating more than 2,000 bottles for our Bordeaux 2022 report, it became apparent that this excellent year offers a bounty of value for wine lovers, with many offerings from the vintage showing great potential for longevity, even in the $30 to $40 price range.

Although the average quality of the Bordeaux 2022 reds is higher than that of the previous year, buyers should be wary of overripe and overdone wines. We found that the finest 2022s might benefit from a more restrained approach, requiring “less” rather than “more,” which almost felt like the opposite of what 2021 was – a linear vintage with higher acidity where we searched for more depth, natural concentration and structure.

Here, we find the quintessential Bordeaux character: merlot-based wines, with their fruit-forward generosity and plumpness, as well as cabernet-driven wines, which are deep, refined and elegant.

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In our selection of top value wines, we’ve highlighted both long-time favorites and producers who have delivered some of their best wines in recent years, offering exceptional value from this vintage.

For instance, Château Potensac – owned by the Delon family, who also run Château Léoville Las Cases – exemplifies consistency with impressive improvements in the warm, dry 2022 season. This cabernet-merlot blend benefits from the year’s warmth, offering fresh dark currant flavors, structure and minerality, with less austerity than in cooler vintages. And the price? Only $30 for a 96-point wine – a remarkable price-to-quality ratio.

Château de Camensac, a fifth-growth estate in Haut-Medoc, also made one of its finest wines in 2022, with a price of just $31, standing out among other notable Medoc and Haut-Medoc producers like Sociando-Mallet.

READ MORE BORDEAUX 2022 FOCUS: OUR 100-POINTERS

While we’ve expressed our admiration for the cabernet-driven reds from the Left Bank in 2022 – especially from Pauillac and St.-Julien – savvy bargain hunters can find exceptional value in the slightly less prestigious St-Estephe, provided the wines aren’t overextracted.

St-Estephe wines tend to be more tannic and rustic, but their stony, mineral quality and energy can be captivating. Notable producers in the region include Château Meyney, Chateau Capbern and Château Le Boscq. And don’t overlook Moulis-en-Medoc, where outstanding value and consistency can be found in wines from Poujeaux and Chasse-Spleen.

On the Right Bank in St.-Émilion, Château Tour Saint Christophe and Château Mangot stand out for offering remarkable value in 2022. I fondly recall the lively, mineral-driven Mongot I tasted at our Hong Kong office this year.

It was a true pleasure to taste and highlight these great-value wines, as they represent the types of bottles we’d love to purchase, savor and age. The 10 red Bordeaux bottles below offer a glimpse of the quality and value that this vintage has to offer, with many more 2022s deserving a spot on your buying list.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor