Brutal heat and lack of rainfall saw an early start and a grim foretaste of future vintages.
© CIVC | Champagne started its vintage early, with drought raising concerns about vine health.
I was intrigued to learn this week that growers in the southern Rhône started to harvest their white grapes on 11 August. In light of another torrid vintage in western Europe, I would have thought mid-April would have been a safer bet.
I jest, of course. Yet vintage 2022 is undoubtedly a tale of soaring temperatures, prolonged drought, forest fires and records broken; certain Italian regions finished harvesting by early August, while Fitou in the Languedoc began picking on 24 July. Many growers are talking in terms of a dress rehearsal for the vintages to come. On the basis of the past five years (excluding 2021), they're not wrong.
This new paradigm inevitably causes winemakers all sorts of headaches, not least overripe and potentially flabby wines. As ex-Torbreck owner David Powell once observed: "Of course I want good phenolic ripeness and concentration, however, some of the most difficult vintages have been the drought-ravaged, low-yielding ones. High pH, cooked fruit and 'burnt tannins' do not a great wine make."
Indeed, vintages like 2022 really test a grower's judgement – is it better to pick early to avoid excessive sugar (and save some acidity), or wait until later in the season? Many green and 'skinny' wines are made this way, while the latter approach led to an abundance of alcohol in 2018. You simply exchange one set of problems for another.
One thing is for sure – with tannin and sugar ripeness levels quite possibly out of sync, enologists have their work cut out. A hands-off approach is inconceivable this year; experts, while not currently in vogue, will need to be present every step of the way. Wines of this vintage will be made in the cellar, not the vineyard.
Champagne
Richard Geoffroy (Dom Pérignon's former chef de cave) was particularly fond of this aphorism: "We need to witness the vintages." Yes, come hail, shine or nuclear holocaust, Geoffroy would studiously blend vin clairs to make Dom Pérignon. But even his supreme talents might have faltered in light of such a punishingly hot summer.
"This year’s harvest will be another very early one; global warming is now a confirmed fact,” agrees Charles Philipponnat. When last we spoke, Philipponnat was debating whether to start picking on August 24. “Vine vigor has been somewhat hampered by the drought, leading to late phenolic ripeness, at the expense of acidity," he says. "Keeping the right balance between sugar, acidity and the possible risk of some 'grittiness' will be the winemakers’ challenge in 2022, not unlike other dry vintages such as 2018, 2019 and 2020."
As Philipponnat concedes, global warming is laying waste to over a century of winemaking tradition in Champagne. In the 1990s, there were few vintages that did not require chaptalization and refraining from malolactic would have seemed pure lunacy. Yet softer lactic acid is increasingly viewed as undesirable in the region; Philipponnat will refrain from undertaking malolactic fermentation this year in certain cuvées, as acid levels are quite low after the summer. There is a silver lining, however: "Aa welcome feature has been the utter absence of any fungal diseases," he says.
Bordeaux
It would take a monumental shock for the Bordeaux establishment to look back at the 2013 vintage – rot, dilution, chronic anemia – with fond memories. But after the hellish fires and sweltering drought of this summer, they may yet regard that infamous year as a blessing in disguise.
As has been widely reported, fires laid waste to over 20,000 hectares of forest in Bordeaux, which led to the evacuation of Liber Pater owner Loïc Pasquet in August. Meanwhile, producers in several appellations were given permission to irrigate their parched vines – an unthinkable occurrence in the 20th Century. Earlier this month, Jacques Lurton, president of the Pessac-Léognan board, told journalists that "these are really the earliest harvests we have had".
So what, then, can we expect from Bordeaux 2022? If previous hot years are anything to go by, a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous. Everything from Napa-like concentration and length to wines where physiological ripeness never quite caught up with sugar ripeness. And, of course, some alcoholic dross.
However, the CIVB has categorically denied any risk of smoke taint in this vintage. Moreover, many winemakers in the Médoc remain confident about the quality of their Cabernet Sauvignon in 2022, albeit they're not sure this is a Merlot year.
"We have thought for a long time how to combat global warming via new methods of canopy management; we made the decision in 2022 to deleaf only one side of the vine row. In addition, on some plots to preserve water resources we decided to destroy the vegetal covering we usually have all year long," explains Matthieu Bordes, directeur général at Château Lagrange in Saint-Julien.
"In terms of harvest dates, for the whites it will certainly be at the end of August – the reds could be in the top five earliest harvests ever in the middle of September. Thus far, however, we are extremely confident about the quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon. But I've been worried about our Merlot for over 15 years, which is why I've been systematically replacing it with Cabernet!"
Will 2022 Lagrange be a 100-percent Cabernet Sauvignon wine? Stranger things have happened.
Burgundy
According to my spy in the Côte-d'Or, Burgundy's winegrowers are cautiously optimistic about vintage 2022. Wine critic, author and resident Jasper Morris MW explains: "While it has been another very warm summer, we're not quite yet in 2018 and 2020 territory."
2018 red Burgundies with 15 percent alcohol are relatively easy to find and sometimes unbalanced, depending, of course, on the particular climat.
© Domaine de Cromey | Burgundy was hot and dry, but growers and producers are optimistic about this year's vintage.
So what is different about this year? "Growers are reasonably optimistic about the vintage, for several reasons," says Morris. "There has been plenty of sunshine, however, temperatures did not reach the dizzy heights of Bordeaux and even England, where you had consecutive days of 40 degrees in certain places. The nights have remained cool and August has seen some very pleasantly warm, but not excessively hot, sunny days."
That said, growers are not generally expecting a generous crop, as the summer drought has resulted in small berries and bunches in the Côte-d'Or. "Some much depends on the terroir in question and when people decide to pick" says Morris. "This year will be another harvest that requires an intelligent approach to phenolic ripeness. If you wait too long, you'll pay the price."
South of France
When you're out in mauve pajamas at 5am harvesting Syrah in the month of July, you know something is amiss. The South of France has 'enjoyed' an unbelievably dry and hot summer this year, with temperatures more reminiscent of Saudi Arabia than Montpelier. Only the most skilled winemakers and privileged sites are likely to produce fresh and ageworthy wines in 2022. Many harvests were completed by early August.
Nevertheless, there are always exceptions to the rule. "We have the good fortune of having a river-fed bore hole on our property – this has been invaluable this year as temperatures have been in the 35-40C range for most of June and July, with no rain at all," says Ruth Simpson, co-founder of Domaine de Sainte Rose in Languedoc.
"We only ever use just enough water to stop the vines from shutting down and to ensure that the grapes reach full maturity. We're really happy with the quality and health of the fruit for the moment."
Northern Italy
Dry farming could apparently be consigned to the history books in several of Italy's premier wine regions. Or at least, this is being mooted in response to another hot and rain-starved vintage. "Although it is currently illegal to irrigate in Barolo, it will probably be necessary in the future to create catchment basins for water, that can be used for agriculture, which to date has not been required,”" says Oscar Arrivabene, winemaker and director of Domenico Clerico.
Francesca Seralvo, third generation owner of Tenuta Mazzolino, report: "We cannot use drip irrigation in Oltrepò [Lombardy], but we are planning for the future. However, we have been working in the vineyard for years, always bearing in mind that the climate is changing and getting warmer." To counter the pernicious effects of global warming, Mazzolino rolls green manure in the rows to keep as much moisture as possible in the subsoil.
Elsewhere, owners plan to tinker with their traditions in an attempt to avoid the worst excesses of fierce alcohol and extract. "We are in Valpolicella – we've always produced Amarone wines with a higher alcohol content compared to other styles," says Sabirna Tedeschi of Tedeschi Wines in Veneto. "However, in 2022 we will try to manage the drying process as much as possible to limit the concentration of components that give complexity to the wine."
All in all, 2022 was a challenging and labor intensive year in northern Italy, with consistently warm weather and a dearth of rain. It remains to be seen how the wines will turn out.
Tuscany/central Italy
Tuscany's winemakers are fairly bullish about their prospects in 2022. They point out that hot and dry vintages are hardly news to the growers of central Italy, and so they've had years to adjust.
"We are getting quite used to these conditions, therefore, our plants are also learning to cope. And this is a very important point: we are not just searching for solutions when the problem is at our front door. Quite the opposite: we are using every leverage possible to help the plant adapt to this new normal,” explains Matthieu Taunay, winemaker at Monteverro.
I also spoke at length with Ornellaia's Axel Heinz about the numerous challenges of 2022. "This is indeed the third hot vintage in a row and certainly the warmest and driest of the three. To us the most important elements to cope with such condition is to get the soil and the canopy management right," says Heinz.
He adds: "For the canopies, we aim to develop moderately abundant canopies that limit water consumption, while protecting the grapes from sunlight as much as possible. We tend to keep much more leaves around the fruit zone than we did in the past an deleaf only very close to harvest. The great effort we have put into preserving the organic content and life in the soil, combined with the increasing vine age at Ornellaia, helps us greatly to make the vines more resilient to extreme weather conditions.” Ornellaia started picking the white grapes in early August and will probably finish harvesting the Merlot by early September
Nevertheless, many of the region's vines – particularly younger plants – would have struggled to ripen a decent crop without irrigation. "It's definitely a somewhat early harvest," says Francesco Mazzei, president of the Maremma consortium. "Clearly, drip irrigation was a crucial element in minimizing plant stress, in July and August – those who had access to it – used it every day."
According to Heinz, Ornellaia was forced to undertake some emergency irrigation in the driest sites and on the youngest vines in late June and mid-July.
In neighboring Umbria, Chiara Lungarotti told me that "it has been the earliest harvest ever at Lungarotti. We started on August 10 with the grapes for the sparkling wines Since August 16, we switched to harvesting the early white varieties such as Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.”
She also believes that growers "should be ready to use 'rescue irrigation', not only on the whites but also on some reds, which historically was not a common occurrence in this part of Italy. But this will be essential if we hope to harvest balanced grapes."
Vintage 2022 will be a litmus test for certain properties in central Italy: can you fashion balanced and fresh wines out of sub-Saharan heat? Or is it time to pack your bags, and head north?
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