Plants are living beings and just like us they need to survive, so they seek the best for themselves mutating and generating defenses against the rigidity of the environment. Cabernet Sauvignon is the grape which is adapting the most. Merlot and Petit Verdot are suffering the most, but the minerality has helped a lot to balance the taste. Overall, the progression of this vintage and the terroir are really helping each other, which means that the producers have had to deal with less work in the vineyard. However the role of the vigneron should be emphasised, which has been crucial this season due to the very warm temperatures, more akin to those in the Mediterranean.

In this case, the techniques used by the vigneron were: canopy work protecting grapes and foliage from sun’s rays and protect weak vines to avoid water wastage; soil management work, conserving and saving water; daily monitoring of the young plantation and vines. During the harvest period of 2022, everyone feared that the fruit would be harvested too ripe and with little freshness, but this was not the case. On the contrary, all the vines adapted to the harsh and hot climate faced in 2022, and the results are truly amazing.

Very important were the two episodes of heavy rains in June and August, without which we would not have achieved these great results. We also recorded hailstorms that caused considerable damage in the northern and southern Médoc and in the northern part of the right bank. For this year's record, we also recorded: early veraison; average temperature of 32° between July and August with peaks of 40° in mid-July; limited availability of water and early, repeated peaks of temperature were most probably the cause of less explosive vine vegetation growth and led to an enhanced kind of strength in the vines.

2022 was also one of the years with the coldest winter in 10 years and the hottest summer since 2003. Resilience is the key word of this year's year looking towards the future.

Tasting the 2022 wines we found uniform integrity, much balance despite the high temperatures, they managed to maintain freshness, minerality and elegance, without ever letting the slightly higher alcohol content of some wines weigh them down, indeed some producers decided to play with the alcohol by lowering it with different blends, making the wines even more balanced. It is a vintage with a 'fil rouge' that keeps the identity of the terroir as visible as possible with the added vivacity of the fantastic vintage.

As Robert Parker mentioned in his report: «Bordeaux produced some monumental wines in 2022». Never before has there been so much dark fruit on the nose, both on the right and left banks, even with an early harvest.

Finally, let's say that 2022 shows us excellent potential as we look to the future, in terms of ageing and finesse.