By Rick Riozza
Yeah baby—it’s back! Just when you thought Bordeaux wines had left the building, one of the best vintages in the past 50 years of that region has hit us like a runaway train. And the wine world—or what’s left of the Bordeaux-loving wine world, is as thrilled as punch over the stellar return of their boastful brand.
The news is so over-the-top, that I bet there will be a bunch of Bordeaux parties back at our wine-starved hotel ballrooms; there will be dancing on the French Louisiana Bayou; hot air balloons will fill the blue sky with new banners broadcasting the best of our favorite Bordeaux biz, from a majestic Margaux, to a pricey Pomerol. Have you had enough!—you don’t want me to keep going, do you?
For years Bordeaux has always lent itself to hype and hyperbole, like my preceding paragraphs above. But this time around—no fake news here—in 2022, it is reported by Wine Spectator that, “a confluence of years-long efforts presented Bordeaux with an opportunity for the ultimate comeback vintage.”
Once upon a time, Bordeaux was a fairly serious topic. Major wine producing history kept it well respected and all business-like—sometimes, even wine-snobbery crept in (imagine that). Bordeaux, at that time, was the gold standard. Sure California had great Cab vintages such as the 1974s and ‘85s—and would go on to shine at many European wine competitions (the movie “Bottle Shock” does a great job with the story surrounding the “1976 Judgment in Paris”). But Bordeaux was all the rage, especially in the auction market where vintage Bordeaux began to bring in the big, big bucks.
And, once upon a time, every wine drinker in town had a strong opinion on Bordeaux wine. You either loved it! or, you decided not to get into it. The baby-boom generation who entered and played the wine game back in the 1980s, pretty much fell into two distinct Cabernet Sauvignon groups: we learned to love the California Cabs from Napa/Sonoma; or, we jumped into the French red Bordeaux, where we had to catch up fast on the two century-long history and appreciation of the most famous region in the wine world.
A broader base of wine enthusiasts, continued to erode the need to be locked into this group or that. The new wave of vino lovers simply see Bordeaux as yet another area of interest to taste and enjoy. They certainly wince and are amazed that so much high-end Bordeaux can sell for 500 bucks a bottle or more, but they’re not afraid of trying a cheap Bordeaux.
But in the last three decades, Bordeaux interest was on the wane. as Wine Spectator points out, “for the last few decades, Bordeaux have been grappling with shrinking sales of value wine. Consumption in France has dropped by more than 70% in the past 75 years. In France, people aren’t just drinking less, they’re opting for beer and cocktails; and when they do drink wine, they tend to prefer higher-end reds as well as white, rose, and sparkling wines.”
In the U.S., with all of the West Coast and international wine on the market, Bordeaux has shrunk in young American’s vino desires. Will the 2022 vintage stage a comeback in the hearts and minds of wine gamers?
Of course before we go any further, let’s remind ourselves of the specific varietals of grape vines that are sanctioned to be grown in the Bordeaux region, and, which had originally shook the wine world as we know it” The stars of the show are: for red wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carménère; for white wine, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Muscadelle, and Sauvignon Gris. So Bordeaux wine is the blending of these grapes—and each individual Château blends their own percentage of these varietals to produce their own distinct wine.
Should you like a little bedtime story, check out this piece I wrote over ten years ago on my first college trip to France: coachellavalleyweekly.com/my-wild-wine-weekend-with-bridget-bordeaux.
With climate change, the 2003 vintage was the first “over-the-top” heat wave growing season. Those wines were the rage for California Cab lovers because of all the bombastic fruit that was coming from all the hot grapes—the quantitative wine scores were through the roof, as were the prices! But in retrospect, those wines were just too jammy.
The new “warm” ‘22 vintage was managed much better with over 20 years of viticulture experience in dealing with climate change. Now the “maturity” level of the juice, from vineyard to barreling was managed magnificently; hence, a great vintage and wine has blessed our soul.
Hopefully many 2022 Bordeaux wine samples are headed my way so we can review many of the wonderful bottles that we are expecting to fill our wine shelves—so please stay tuned for some pleasing articles. In the meantime, this is what I’ve come across:
The movie Sideways is probably the ultimate wine tasting flick out there. But how many of you wine folks remember the “final” wine of the movie? (okay—here’s yet another view from memory lane, should you be interested: coachellavalleyweekly.com/tasting-sideways-a-decade-later).
WS writes: “Leading the way in 2022 is the Chateaux Cheval Blanc Saint Emilion, 99 points, $670, which nearly oozes with loganberry, boysenberry, and blackberry compote notes that give its core an almost outsized feel. It has weight but there is a restraint and focus, as touches of warm loam, licorice root, and smoking tobacco keep it well-grounded. Amid all that, there is a lilting black tea and violet backdrop at the very end adding grace and sensuality.
“It’s the wine of the vintage for the new Bordeaux that has crystallized in 2022.”
Well—I think we got the message. Cheers!
