The Bordeaux 2022 Report: Best of the Rest

The Bordeaux market tends to be dominated by the wines of the Left and Right Banks, but there is much more to Bordeaux than just those two heavyweights.

The region’s white wines, its sweet wines and the reds of Pessace-Léognan and Graves are just as important to the broader Bordeaux picture, so let’s talk about them.

Pessac-Léognan and Graves

Tasting the wines of Pessac-Léognan and Graves I was surprised to find I had ranked Domaine de Chevalier and Château Smith Haut Lafitte marginally ahead of Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion.

Domaine de Chevalier produced its wines with a special label in 2022, in commemoration of Olivier Bernard’s 40th vintage in charge of the estate and have clearly produced a phenomenal wine – I noted its texture as spectacular and the integration of oak is clearly exceptional, while the interplay between spices and lively cassis fruit on the palate is thrilling.

Structure and concentration are not lacking, but was this really better than the First Growth Haut-Brion? The two to are hard to compare as, for all its freshness, Haut-Brion displays it is a much denser and more tightly structured wine that is likely to open spectacularly. My notes on Smith Haut Lafitte also remark on freshness and lively fruit. Neither Domaine de Chevalier nor Smith Haut Lafitte’s wines are likely to fade any time in the next 20 years, however it seems likely that Haut Brion is a slow starter that has been made for a longer time-line. Maybe I am wrong and in 20 years Haut Brion will prove to be the better wine?

It is also worth noting, though, about Domaine de Chevalier and Smith Haut Lafitte, is their pricing. At $80 and $155 a bottle (global average ex-tax) respectively, Domaine de Chevalier and Smith Haut Lafitte compare very favorably to Haut-Brion with a global ex-tax average price that is currently just shy of $800.

Next on my list was a mouthwateringly fresh Château de Fieuzal with superb length, fine structure and freshness that was a delight to taste.

Close behind were a raft of exciting wines from Château Carbonnieux, Château Olivier, Château Latour-Martillac and Château Pape Clement. Carbonnieux was concentrated and dense yet still has mouth-watering, juicy freshness and lovely length. Olivier showed firm tannins and vibrant fresh, juicy fruit, while Latour Martillac exhibited exotic spices, ripe fruit and grainy tannins. Pape Clement was dense, brooding and seemingly packed with fruit – another very long-term developer.

Alongside the above three wines I found myself ranking two wines that were more about elegance and balance than concentration. While both Château de Chantegrive and Château La Louvière were undoubtedly richer than is customary for wines from these estates, they were both wines with purity, elegance and freshness, offering great value. Chantegrive, whose global average ex-tax price has crept up $2 in this past week to $17 a bottle, is priced at a level many may see as suited for everyday-drinking. This was a serious wine that will clearly age for at least a decade, but will undoubtedly be approachable from a relatively early age.

Dry whites 

I think the dry white wines from 2022 have perhaps been a little unfairly dismissed by some commentators, I found many of them compelling wines with vivid notes of blackcurrant-leaf and passionfruit aromas. While perhaps lacking the acidity of a top vintage these wines tended to have pungency, intensity and purity of aromas that leave them very attractive.

Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux stood out for me, perhaps benefiting from being a pure Sauvignon Blanc in a ripe vintage, gave it a greater edge of freshness. Its pungent flavors were entrancingly pure.

In Pessac-Léognan excellent wines came from Château Smith Haut-Lafitte Blanc, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Château Haut-Brion Blanc and Château Pape Clement Blanc. Smith Haut-Lafitte Blanc was concentrated, complex and toasty, but superbly balanced. It was slightly lighter and more minerally fresh, but still creamy-textured, rich and long. Pape Clement Blanc was weighty and rounded with creamy notes and intense, pungent fruit.

Well-worth considering from Pessac-Léognan were a trio of captivatingly aromatic wines – a wonderful effort from Château Malartic Lagravière Blanc was fresh with pungent fruit, the brilliantly vivacious Château Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc was complex, lifted and exciting also delightful, was the pure and well-defined Château de Fieuzal Blanc with mineral notes.

Offering fabulous value are the likes of the wonderfully pure Château La Louvière Blanc and another superb wine from Château Chantegrive, their Cuvée Caroline – perhaps lighter than most, but wonderfully poised and elegant.

Sweet whites

Sauternes and Barsac were affected by the dry nature of the vintage, which meant botrytis came late in, thus estates struggled to ensure balance in their wines as acidity fell through the growing season. The best estates found elegance, these were Château Doisy-Daëne, Château Coutet, Château de Fargues and Château La Tour Blanche.

Doisy-Daëne’s pure ripe apricot fruit was wonderfully fresh and supported by delicious vanilla and marzipan notes. For me this was the outstanding wine of the appellation for its balance and purity.

Coutet was spectacularly rich with exotic perfumes and spices. Fuller than Doisy-Daëne, it was almost as poised on the finish. De Fargues was refined and elegant, seemingly a little restrained, its beautifully defined pineapple and marzipan flavors on the mid palate could well open spectacularly with time. La Tour Blanche is sweet, honeyed and juicy with an oily texture and ripe peach/apricot flavors on the finish.

Château Suduiraut created a huge, hedonistic, viscous wine with a whopping 190 grams per liter of sugar! The wine was rich, honied and full.

Another wine well worthy of note was Château de Myrat. This estate which usually produces a classically elegant and delicate Barsac, turned in a noticeably richer, much fuller wine in 2022 that usual.

David Allen MW’s detailed tasting notes for each of the 261 wines he tasted from the 2021 vintage are available on the Wine-Searcher website and app. The notes and technical information (blends, alcohol levels, pH, acidity aging etc) for these and most wines offered En-Primeur are available via the links provided in the text above and on the find page for each of the wines. Click through on the Profile and Reviews tabs to access these features.