Bordeaux 2022 EP

Cynicism masquerades as wisdom and has an easy appeal to the cheap seats.

It's an interesting, factual, forthright and honest article. It's well written by Colin Hay. One aspect I don't agree about is the "looking over the shoulder" for the new Parker. We're very much in the post Parker era and we've lots of critics who we value their opinions on the wine. I personally think no one is looking for a new Parker, nor have any of those critics a desire to take over his crown.
 
Sean Hardon said:
Cynicism masquerades as wisdom and has an easy appeal to the cheap seats.

It's an interesting, factual, forthright and honest article. It's well written by Colin Hay. One aspect I don't agree about is the "looking over the shoulder" for the new Parker. We're very much in the post Parker era and we've lots of critics who we value their opinions on the wine. I personally think no one is looking for a new Parker, nor have any of those critics a desire to take over his crown.
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Hmm it’s just a personal opinion not sure what you mean by factual it’s also written for the drinks business I mean really no self-interest there!

Cynicism is healthy and certainly warranted when it comes to en primeur reports. The uneasy connection between the business of wine-making, wine-selling and the business of wine-criticism overlaps in myriad nefarious ways. I have no idea what your daft idea about wisdom and cheap seats means. Who are these people in the cheap seats?!
 
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For a less PR framed perspective my friend Sophie Thorpe of F&R has a small piece up here. We have pretty similar classical tastes it’s pretty clear that the Borderlais PR machine is in overdrive but seeing between the lines the wines are going to be big, punchy and alcoholic with of course some noteable exceptions.
 
I guess my position in relation to Bordeaux would be that these days every vintage has its place in the cellar. The days of disastrously bad vintages have not really been seen since the 1970s due to a combination of changing weather, better use of improved technology and improved winemaking knowledge and science.

That doesn’t mean all vintages are of equal merit or equally to be sought after. Rather, I’d suggest that a serious Bordeaux cellar should not just have the great wines from the best vintages, it should also have solid wines for mid term drinking, lighter wines for early drinking, and good wines from less good years for interest and comparison.

As I’ve said before it would be better to see drinking wine as theatre and to seek merit in the performance in context rather than treat it as sporting contest where only the winners (wotn’s) are celebrated.
 
Gareth Germain said:
Hmm it’s just a personal opinion not sure what you mean by factual it’s also written for the drinks business I mean really no self-interest there!

Cynicism is healthy and certainly warranted when it comes to en primeur reports. The uneasy connection between the business of wine-making, wine-selling and the business of wine-criticism overlaps in myriad nefarious ways. I have no idea what your daft idea about wisdom and cheap seats means. Who are these people in the cheap seats?!
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Me for one. Bread and circuses. Sign me up!

After you’ve passed me the peanuts….
 
kevin heatherington said:
I guess my position in relation to Bordeaux would be that these days every vintage has its place in the cellar. The days of disastrously bad vintages have not really been seen since the 1970s due to a combination of changing weather, better use of improved technology and improved winemaking knowledge and science.

That doesn’t mean all vintages are of equal merit or equally to be sought after. Rather, I’d suggest that a serious Bordeaux cellar should not just have the great wines from the best vintages, it should also have solid wines for mid term drinking, lighter wines for early drinking, and good wines from less good years for interest and comparison.

As I’ve said before it would be better to see drinking wine as theatre and to seek merit in the performance in context rather than treat it as sporting contest where only the winners (wotn’s) are celebrated.
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I understand you and I'm sure many other people buy that way and that maintaining verticals is important. Personally I prefer to buy wine I will enjoy and don't have attraction to verticals in that way.
 
In response to both Sean and Gareth, I fear I might be a cynic in a cheap seat? I'm no longer selling Bordeaux en primeur, I no longer taste the wines en primeur and I haven't bought a single bottle of red Bordeaux more recent than the 2016 vintage. But what, in my relatively limited experience, is the difference between a typical cellar in Burgundy and a typical cellar in Bordeaux? One is tiny and full of cobwebs, the other is enormous and full of unsold wine.

By my calculation, 2022 is the twelfth 'vintage of the century' in Bordeaux and I'm sure that 2023 is already shaping up very nicely. I'm quite prepared to believe that all manner of novel audiences may have opened up for classed growth claret, but at the same time I suspect that a fair number of doors (both old and new) have slammed shut for good. So all the owners of all those climate-controlled warehouses rammed full of wine (and all the managers of all those banks lending money secured on that wine) must have their fingers SERIOUSLY crossed that someone starts drinking the wine that's already out there pretty soon...

Because, as Sophie Thorpe's attractively balanced piece concludes, 'the show must go on'.
 
Christopher Topham-Smith said:
In response to both Sean and Gareth, I fear I might be a cynic in a cheap seat? I'm no longer selling Bordeaux en primeur, I no longer taste the wines en primeur and I haven't bought a single bottle of red Bordeaux more recent than the 2016 vintage. But what, in my relatively limited experience, is the difference between a typical cellar in Burgundy and a typical cellar in Bordeaux? One is tiny and full of cobwebs, the other is enormous and full of unsold wine.

By my calculation, 2022 is the twelfth 'vintage of the century' in Bordeaux and I'm sure that 2023 is already shaping up very nicely. I'm quite prepared to believe that all manner of novel audiences may have opened up for classed growth claret, but at the same time I suspect that a fair number of doors (both old and new) have slammed shut for good. So all the owners of all those climate-controlled warehouses rammed full of wine (and all the managers of all those banks lending money secured on that wine) must have their fingers SERIOUSLY crossed that someone starts drinking the wine that's already out there pretty soon...

Because, as Sophie Thorpe's attractively balanced piece concludes, 'the show must go on'.
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Brilliantly summarised. I’ll maybe buy a few drinkers like reserve comtesse and Capbern, but I’m done.
one wonders just how many corks are being popped.
 
Compared to Bugundy and where top Piedmont and Rhone wines are quickly heading, and the sense that Bordeaux hasn’t really been hit by inflation over the last couple of years, it is now starting to look a bit more affordable than where it was just a few years ago. A decent bottle of classed growth can now be had for the same price as bottle of village Burgundy. Whether the ‘22 EP prices make any sense will really depend on where they are relative to recent vintages now available.
 
Christopher Topham-Smith said:
In response to both Sean and Gareth, I fear I might be a cynic in a cheap seat? I'm no longer selling Bordeaux en primeur, I no longer taste the wines en primeur and I haven't bought a single bottle of red Bordeaux more recent than the 2016 vintage. But what, in my relatively limited experience, is the difference between a typical cellar in Burgundy and a typical cellar in Bordeaux? One is tiny and full of cobwebs, the other is enormous and full of unsold wine.

By my calculation, 2022 is the twelfth 'vintage of the century' in Bordeaux and I'm sure that 2023 is already shaping up very nicely. I'm quite prepared to believe that all manner of novel audiences may have opened up for classed growth claret, but at the same time I suspect that a fair number of doors (both old and new) have slammed shut for good. So all the owners of all those climate-controlled warehouses rammed full of wine (and all the managers of all those banks lending money secured on that wine) must have their fingers SERIOUSLY crossed that someone starts drinking the wine that's already out there pretty soon...

Because, as Sophie Thorpe's attractively balanced piece concludes, 'the show must go on'.
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I don't think Colin Hay gives the impression that 22 is the vintage of the century though. He gives us the insight into where it can be good and where it can be bad.

Another good point he makes is that in this vintage overuse of oak can lead to drying tannins and an easy pass. That precise decisions needed to be made in the vineyards. That ultimately these were wines made well in the winery.

Rather than making sweeping assumptions, there's inciteful comment. I see no sale here.
 
I'm curious about the increasing frequency of "high quality" vintages, because it feels like a natural counterweight to selling at ever increasing prices.
If we've had (and I don't know to be accurate) say 5-6 great vintages in the last few years, and the prices on 22s are going up, supply isn't on the wane; if i'm buying i'm happy to leave the latest great vintage and backfill on likely cheaper 2016 or whatever, knowing i'm getting good quality and i'm nearer the proverbial ideal drinking window already.
Maybe I'm too sane or missing the point
 
Sean Hardon said:
I don't think Colin Hay gives the impression that 22 is the vintage of the century though. He gives us the insight into where it can be good and where it can be bad.

Another good point he makes is that in this vintage overuse of oak can lead to drying tannins and an easy pass. That precise decisions needed to be made in the vineyards. That ultimately these were wines made well in the winery.

Rather than making sweeping assumptions, there's inciteful comment. I see no sale here.
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So you missed this bit then (it was repeated twice), “It is without any doubt in my mind the best that I have tasted en primeur. It was produced in climatic and meteorological conditions much more difficult than, say, 2010 or 2016. But it is at least every bit their equal.”

Given he has been tasting for forty years that would make it the best vintage of the century for him.

That is frankly a sweeping ridiculous statement.
 
Jim Yorke said:
I'm curious about the increasing frequency of "high quality" vintages, because it feels like a natural counterweight to selling at ever increasing prices.
If we've had (and I don't know to be accurate) say 5-6 great vintages in the last few years, and the prices on 22s are going up, supply isn't on the wane; if i'm buying i'm happy to leave the latest great vintage and backfill on likely cheaper 2016 or whatever, knowing i'm getting good quality and i'm nearer the proverbial ideal drinking window already.
Maybe I'm too sane or missing the point
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No I think you’re on the money. Why on earth buy 22 (particularly if prices are up circa 25-35% as some predict) when you can pick up 09, 10 and 16 and even 05 for less money and without the six to eighteen year storage fees.
 
Gareth Germain said:
No I think you’re on the money. Why on earth buy 22 (particularly if prices are up circa 25-35% as some predict) when you can pick up 09, 10 and 16 and even 05 for less money and without the six to eighteen year storage fees.
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All true but from recollection the same could probably the same for all those vintages too when they were first released. The EP system made sense up to the 2004 vintage from a price advantage perspective. Since then only 2008 at the top end had good deals in terms of EP release prices. It makes sense now only if you are playing the long game and expect prices to increase considerably over the next decade or you want specific wines, formats etc.
 
Well, 2022 may well turn out to be worth all the 93-97 points the wines seem to have been awarded, but I still think some caution is advised. It may well be that vineyard management has 'improved' as has the winemaking, but no-one knows what these modern wines with high levels of alcohol, tannin and extract will actually taste like at maturity. We won't know whether there has been an improvement as opposed to simply a change in winemaking until the wines get drunk. Will it still be an entirely pleasurable mix of characteristics? It's been hard to work out what the alcohol levels are since they are rarely mentioned in the tasting notes, but 14 to 14.5% looks fairly common. Even Domaine de Chevalier rouge is 14%. I note that one merchant who posts on this forum, has undertaken to state the alcohol level alongside any of the wines he offers - a plan to be applauded.

I have been trying some of the more recent northern Rhône wines where the fruit is ripe and the alcohol in the 14 to 14.5% range and I can tell you emphatically that it is not an 'improvement'. The wines just taste muscle-bound, a bit jammy and a bit alcoholic. Elegance and terroir expression take a back seat.
 
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