Vintages 2022, an anthological year 🍇

Review and outlook at the Domaines et Châteaux Gérard Bertrand

 

 

 

• One of the best vintages of the last forty years
• A scorching summer, among the hottest recorded in thirty years
• A vintage marked by a Mediterranean character
• 69 days of harvest from 11 August to 19 October, the greatest span ever seen at Gérard Bertrand
• 1,040 hectares harvested by hand
• Complementary grape profiles for producing great blends

Thanks to a mild winter, the vegetative cycle of the vine started early, with buds appearing (budburst) as early as March.

 

Our vineyards escaped the spring frosts and thus continued regular vegetative growth without any major constraint (neither water stress nor parasitic attack) until the flowering. This took place fifteen days early, in excellent conditions, thus allowing a rate of fruit set (formation of grape berries) high, even on varieties known to be susceptible to coulure (Grenache and Merlot). The bunch output (number of bunches per vine) was on the whole quite generous. The winemaking actions of shoot-thinning and bunch-thinning as the harvest approached were decisive in our vineyards in achieving the balance needed to craft our great wines.

 

Subsequently, this calendar lead diminished, mainly due to water rationing that allowed the ripening and the first manual harvest sequences for the whites and the early reds (Pinot Noir), ten days earlier than in 2021.

It also made itself felt on short-cycle grape varieties (mainly white varieties), although it was entirely smoothed out on the later varieties, whose harvest was able to benefit from an incredibly favourable late season for slow, qualitative ripening.

 

After the freshness of early spring and from May onwards, temperatures were well above seasonal norms, which places the 2022 vintage among the three hottest of the last thirty years.

 

Overall, we had rainfall typical of a Mediterranean climate. With a relatively wet winter around the famous "March showers" and a dry spring concluded by a storm at the end of June, we were able to calmly get through the summer "dry spell".

 

Despite a hot summer marked by temperature peaks, the Mediterranean's thermal regulation and well-watered soils allowed the vines to reach maturity in excellent vegetative balance. This balance enabled natural rationing of water supply, guaranteeing an excellent health status and regulating the qualitative growth of the berries.

 The vine stocks comfortably weathered these scorching sequences, thanks to:

• the practice of biodynamics for over 20 years
• the selection of grape varieties suited to the terroirs
• early shoot-thinning
• precise management of plant nutrition
• the alternation of cover crops (green manures)
• soil work

 

A few storms and maritime inflows around the start of September refreshed the atmosphere and brought a touch of humidity. This is the moment when the key to the vintage was decided : without rushing the harvest; the great attention we pay to the grapes allowed us to get through this episode while maintaining an exceptional health status, and to wait for the full maturity of the grapes (skin, pulp and pips).

 

 

The planets were aligned to produce an exceptional vintage, among the best of the last forty years. One would have to go back to the 2011 vintage to find a comparable reference. Guided by our patient winemaking, the grapes brought together all the favourable factors for crafting very great wines: controlled and moderate yields, small berries, soft tannins.

 

After 2021, a vintage with lower volumes largely due to spring frosts, 2022 looked generous and promising from the end of spring. Then, it was during a scorching summer that the harvest began.

 

The harvest started early: the first plot of Sauvignon Blanc was picked on 11 August, followed by our Chardonnay and Viognier with beautiful expressions of citrus, pineapple, apricot and white peach.

Then came the Pinot Noirs, rich with silky tannins, the Syrah, the Grenache, with manual harvesting extending to 19 October 2022 — 69 days of harvest in total. An exceptional year!

Having a thorough understanding of the behaviour of each grape variety, the functioning of each terroir, and the weather conditions was this year an essential element in planning the harvest schedules and delivering a vintage that will very likely go down as the best of the first part of the 21st century.

 

Blending is a crucial step in the crafting of our great wines. After all the attention devoted to our grapes and vines, this is where we give free rein to the exceptional expertise of Gérard Bertrand.

The same grape variety yields several expressions across our different terroirs. Our exceptional vineyards, cultivated biodynamically, are located on the finest crus in the south of France — Corbières-Boutenac, Terrasses du Larzac, Minervois La Livinière, La Clape, Limoux, Cabrières to name but a few. Through our tastings, it is striking to note, for the same grape variety, very different wines depending on the vineyards they come from. This is an asset for our blends, as we can thus craft complex, expressive and highly diverse wines.

The southern Languedoc will be rounder and richer, while the north and west will be fresher and fruitier. The rosés are fresh, fruity and deep. The reds are already very expressive, with fine polyphenolic structures of elegant tannins.

The extractions were once again very gentle this year. The tannic structures developed very quickly; the perfect management of vatting time allows us to have fruity, spicy wines in the cellar with no overripeness whatsoever. We are eagerly and enthusiastically awaiting the start of the second fermentation, known as malolactic, before embarking on the January blending sessions.