Bordeaux 2022 Focus: Our 100-Pointers

The pinnacle of the wines we rate are those achieving the coveted 100-point score, and with nine such wines from Bordeaux’s 2022 vintage, the excitement surrounding this release is palpable.

This vintage stands in stark contrast to the more challenging 2021, which produced fresher, crunchier, medium-bodied wines that lacked the depth typical of Bordeaux. The 2022 vintage, however, was defined by extreme drought and heat, which resulted in higher alcohol levels and richer, riper fruit. The key challenge that year was to avoid overripe fruit, ensuring balance with structured wines that remain approachable without excessive tannins.

The top producers excelled in capturing both freshness and elegance from this opulent vintage, with the nine 100-point wines serving as the ultimate testament to their success. In all, we rated more than 2,000 wines for our Bordeaux 2022 vintage report, with James and Senior Editor Zekun Shuai spending two weeks in Bordeaux in January and meeting with dozens of producers and winemakers as they tasted through the most recent year in bottle.

While many 2022 cabernet sauvignons from Bordeaux retained better freshness than merlots, with some standout bottles from St.-Juliens and Pauillac impressing us the most this year, exceptional wines emerged across all Bordeaux appellations, demonstrating that success ultimately depends on an intimate understanding of terroir and astute winemaking decisions.

In Pomerol, while some wines took on a more jammy, ripe character, the three 100-pointers from here – Petrus, Lafleur and L’Eglise Clinet – offer a refreshing surprise. Tasting this trio reveals an unexpected vibrancy and freshness, despite the overall ripeness of the vintage.

Olivier Berrouet of Petrus explained that the winemaking adjustments were crucial to avoiding overripeness and heavy tannins. "In a dry year, if you don’t master maturity and extraction, you risk developing roasted coffee bean notes” from very ripe seeds, he said.

This year, Petrus used 50 percent new oak, employing steam and water to prevent the development of dry tannins, and reduced aging to 16 months.

“In the 80s, we aged our wines for 24 months in 100 percent new oak, but as the climate has evolved, so has our approach,” Berrouet said. “Now, wines are riper and deeper in color, but also more delicate when it comes to wood interaction.”

The final result is a wine that is both fresh and lush, with a glossy sheen to its fruit, well-packed, polished, and finished with silky tannins and a unique, full-bodied texture.

Pauillac boasts four 100-point wines this year – Latour, Mouton, Lafite and Leoville Las Cases, each with its own distinct character. For Saskia de Rothschild of Lafite, the key to success was making bold, decisive moves. “We took another step toward infusion winemaking, and I think it was the decision,” she said.

The 2022 Lafite is distinctive and unique. I noted its "retro-nasal" quality – length and ethereal aromas lingering in the aftertaste, giving it an airy, delicate finish. This medium-bodied offering is defined by elegance, delicacy and incredible length.

The Leoville Las Cases, meanwhile, impresses with its minerality, precision and fine tannic structure. While great Leoville Las Cases wines age exceptionally well, the 2022 vintage demonstrates how an exceptional wine should start: irresistibly balanced, delicious and approachable even in its youth.

Mouton’s 2022 is a round, expressive wine that recalls the exceptional 2019 vintage – inviting, slightly hedonistic, yet serious with its meaty, classically Pauillac graphite character. Latour’s 2022, though still in its infancy, impresses with its demureness, class, power and austerity, standing strong against the truly mind-blowing, if not legendary, 2016.

Two Sauternes 2022s achieved 100 points this year. While acidity isn’t the defining factor for Sauternes and Bordeaux whites in 2022 – most of which show just medium acidity – the perception of freshness comes from phenolics and sapidity.

Complexity, structure, and salinity defined many of the best white and botrytised wines, with the Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey’s Sauternes Crème de Tête 2022, a barrel selection, and the Château d'Yquem Sauternes 2022 showing remarkable concentration and balance.

The Yquem, according to the winemaker, Lorenzo Pasquini, is the second most concentrated after the legendary 1945 vintage, with around 160 grams of residual sugar. James hailed it as one of the highlights of his 42-year career, praising its phenomenal intensity and balance.

Slightly denser and richer than the exceptional 2021, its harmony is irresistibly appealing. James likens Yquems’ 2021 and 2022 vintages to the celebrated 2001 and 2003, noting, "Today's Yquems, like other Sauternes, are much more precisely made.”

- Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor