En Primeur tastings are hotly anticipated by many buyers and there's no doubt that Bordeaux En Primeur has a special place in UK wine merchants' hearts. This annual pilgrimage to vente en primeur sees Grand Cru Classé wines and others now up for sale before the wines are released to the market around 2-2½ years later. In the meantime, they finish maturing in oak barrels, typically for a further 18-24 months.
Every year, the Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux, which has 125 members encompassing 27 appellations, organises a series of En Primeur tastings. Founder and President, Alain Raynaud comments: "The strength of the Circle lies in our ability to unite Bordeaux Right and Left Bank wines in the same organisation. We have striven to build recognition for our talented Châteaux since 2013. We are driven by a sense of strong values that keeps us together and continuously active in seeking ways to capitalise on our collective energy. At all our get-togethers and many events, we focus steadfastly on a single ambition: to make excellence affordable!"
Image courtesy of Le Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux
The Bordeaux wine industry has already responded to the many environmental, social and economic challenges it faces by instigating a series of green initiatives, supporting sustainability. These aim to reduce the ecological footprint of winegrowers, merchants and wineries by protecting the soil and biodiversity of the land.
There is also a commitment for all vineyards to adopt an environmental approach by 2025, with a range of certifications, covering HVE (High Environmental Value), Terra Vitis, organic or biodynamic agricultural practices and others. By 2021, 75% of the vineyard surface area had received an environmental certification, compared to 35% in 2014 and 55% in 2016.
An Environmental Management System, launched in 2011, supports all companies in the Bordeaux wine industry (winegrowers, cooperative wineries or merchants) wishing to change their environmental practices. Currently, this scheme comprises over 1000 companies.
Further initiatives, such as Bordeaux Cultivons Demain, introduced in 2019, promote a collective approach for improving corporate social and environmental responsibility within all sections of the Bordeaux wine industry. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions - 54% decrease by 2030 and 74% by 2050 - is a major focus of its strategy.
Alain Raynaud (centre left), Founder and President of Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux
It seems sadly normal now to freely utter phrases like climate change, global warming, extreme heat, droughts, floods etc.. Unfortunately, they reflect an ever-increasing normality, where our changing climate is having a clear impact on agriculture and vineyard management.
So, while 2021 was a cool, wet vintage in Bordeaux which saw chaptalisation widely used, what's the expectation for the 2022 vintage?
Despite its normally temperate oceanic climate, in Bordeaux, as in other wine regions of the world, 2022 brought plenty of heat! A cool, but dry winter with above-average temperatures and lower-than-average rainfall was followed by a relatively mild spring. However, April did see worrying frosts with temperatures down as low as -9°C. Early and violent summer hailstorms then heralded the driest July for many years.
Drought and extreme heat continued into August, sparking wildfires, but some welcome rain and cooler nights helped retain acidity levels in the grapes. However, overall the weather was so dry, with little rain right from budbreak to harvest, that certain appellations were even given permission to irrigate. These include Pessac-Léognan, Pomerol, Lalande-de-Pomerol and Saint-Emilion. Older vines suffered less, as their deep roots could access water stored in the soil from the wet 2021 vintage.
The unique growing season conditions resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe berries with low yields, an early harvest of mid-August for white grapes (around 3 weeks earlier than normal) and a long harvest spanning much of September and October for red grapes. General expectations were of high quality fruit showing concentration, richness, low malic acid levels, high alcohol and high tannins. Consequently, the 2022 vintage has been lauded as "historic" with producers hugely positive about its potential and excellent prospects for long-term cellaring.
Although greater than in 2021 - 3.77 million hectolitres harvested - the 2022 yield of 4.10 million hectolitres is lower than the yearly average of 4.70 million hectolitres (equivalent to 649 million bottles). In comparison, the 2020 vintage saw 4.40 million hectolitres, 2019 saw 4.86 million hectolitres and the 2018 vintage resulted in 4.99 million hectolitres.
This year on 28th March, 29 winemakers from 43 Châteaux, representing the diversity of Bordeaux's people and terroirs, came to London to showcase their En Primeur wines, traditionally the first of these tastings.
The venue, Terrace at The Dilly, was an excellent choice with its location in the heart of the bustling West End and its views over the central London skyline. Filled with natural light, it offers a welcoming space for the many visitors who came to try the new Bordeaux vintage. Well looked after by the organisers, Business France, the visiting wine trade saw any hunger pangs disappear by a succession of delicious canapés, which added to the general feeling of bonhomie in the room.
Unsurprisingly, the quality of the vintage and environmental initiatives were major talking points. Yet so was the continuing relevance of Bordeaux to the UK market, despite the wines not always as dominant a force in UK stockists as they once were.
Raynaud offers his thoughts on the strong affection the UK market has always held for Bordeaux, despite falling sales. "It's like a love story. You have high and low moments. Prices, full-bodied and over-oaked wines may have been responsible for a lack of enthusiasm among British consumers. Today, we have to recover the past interest and show that the wines are no longer just full-bodied, but medium-bodied and no longer over-oaked, but attractively oaked and prices are very reasonable."
For Mark Pardoe MW, Wine Director at Berry Bros. & Rudd, Bordeaux remains one of their cornerstones and the 2022 vintage no less so. "We find the market still strong and engaged. Before prices are released, it's always difficult to anticipate how the market will respond. It'll be interesting, as yields will be low, but the vibe from the producers is that they have something quite special."
Pardoe shares his views on the latest En Primeur. "In terms of quality, 2022 looks very encouraging. I haven't seen anything that disappoints me. It's a very rich vintage, but it seems to have freshness. With the reds, tannins are big but very mature, so fold into the wine well. Acidity seems to be appropriate. I think the whites are going to suffer more. They were harvested in August and are very low in malic acid. So they're going to be a softer, more slightly exotic style, which should be early drinking."
Raynaud points to changes in both viticulture and vinification, necessary for the vintage. "With this summertime, we didn't need to treat the vines against mildew or anything. It was safe from diseases that we normally have to treat. I am 75 and have only seen this once!"
"The whites have been difficult", he continues, echoing Pardoe's analysis, "as high maturation of the grapes meant a lack of acidity, so we had to pick them very early and do a gentle punching down. Then maceration and [post-vinification] maturation on the lees made it all integrated. So finally, we had a good result, but it wasn't clear at the start and it was difficult to obtain.
"For the reds, it was the complete opposite! We were picking for as long as 6-7 weeks from mid-September to end of October. So in general, tannins are very ripe. We normally destem the grapes before putting them in the vats. This time, there has been a trend to keep 20-30% of the stems for the red wines, because we considered that they would have been too flat otherwise. Therefore, you can maintain acidity and vivacity."
Jean-François Quenin of Château de Pressac in Saint-Émillion, found acidity levels surprising. "In summer we were very anxious, as we saw the vines were suffering, especially the young vines. However they never stopped growing, so they concentrated the aromas and everything else. We were expecting low acidity, but we have high acidity and we don't know why! I think that as the upper part of the soil was very dry, the roots found the freshness from deeper down so they had more acidity, although malic acid is low. Also, we have been very careful not to extract too much."
Other winemakers also report the importance of avoiding overextraction. Philippe de Poyferré, General Manager and oenologist at Château Loudenne in the Médoc, comments: "2022 was very warm and dry. In a way, it's an easy vintage to get all your grapes ripe, but on the other hand, it's a complicated vintage to keep the typical Bordeaux characteristics of red and black fruit. If you're not careful and over-extract, you can get overripe plummy flavours. Very often in Bordeaux, it's difficult to get enough extraction. This year, extraction was easy. The challenge was not to over-extract!"
Even one of our canine friends wants to learn about the stellar 2022 vintage!
The overriding impression of the 2022 vintage, shared by many at the En Primeur tasting, is that despite the obvious tannins … and there are plenty of them! … they are not aggressive. The quality of the fruit, which is rich, juicy and ripe, keeps any harshness in the tannins at bay, so there's effectively already a velvet glove cushioning so many of these young wines with no real hint of greenness. The balance of tannin and acidity is good, so the wines generally feel clean, full of plush fruit, but not over-extracted.
Raynaud is optimistic about the En Primeur wines: "2022 produced a very exciting and wonderful vintage. It is something that does not happen very often - I think once or twice a century. Due to wonderful weather, although things started very badly with frosts affecting many properties in spring and then hail, we had the most wonderful summer. Grapes have been ripening very well and the tannins are refined and approachable."
Mélanie Homo from HVE-3 certified Château de la Huste and Château Dalem agrees. "2022 is the vintage that gives you everything you need to make an exceptional wine. That's the beauty of this vintage." However, climate change has led to adaptations in viticultural practices. "We kept more leaves in 2022 to shelter the grapes, like they do in hotter countries", she adds. "We have to adjust. Also, on plots where we know there's a frost risk, we wait later to prune the vines. That way we try to manage."
In addition to changes in canopy management, in order to maintain high fruit quality in the face of climate change, many other environmental initiatives have been implemented across the region.
Antoine Carteyron is winemaker at Château Penin in Génissac, on the opposite side of the Dordogne river from Saint Émilion. The estate is HVE-3 certified for sustainability, but they adopt organic principles, avoid chemical fertilisers, practise massal selection and fully embrace biodiversity. "We planted 500 trees this winter. We selected 30 different types of trees, only local species, coming from seeds from the local forest. We want some trees that flower in the spring, some that flower in the summer and others that flower in the autumn. The goal is to have food and shelter for the birds and insects all year long. Some trees keep their leaves, others don't.
"We have a very diverse range of terroirs. Usually, on clay and silty soil, there are more problems with compaction. On gravel soils, there is less organic matter and they usually lack a bit of carbon. So, we're planting cover crops for natural fertilisation of the vines. Radishes have roots that naturally decompact the soil, while clover brings nitrogen and cereals add carbon."
Elsewhere, Bordeaux vignerons are similarly serious about their approaches to sustainable, eco-friendly vineyard management. At Château de Pressac, for example, they try to farm organically as much as possible. Only when it rains will they resort to systemic products. "We use organic products 80% of the time", says Quenin, "and try to leave grass everywhere. In certain plots, we keep the grass in each row. In others, we take the grass out, especially if it's very dry. We are very careful about biodiversity."
Also, they gently till, rather than ploughing with heavy machinery which would compact the clay soils too much. "It kills the worms and the microbiology of the soils", he adds. This year, they've even started working with a laboratory to analyse the mushrooms and bacteria in the soils.
"When Bordeaux gets behind a trend or a movement" says Pardoe, "it has the money and the power to make these things work. From almost overnight, from nowhere, there are many Bordeaux Châteaux doing things on a big scale that many small producers in other regions have been doing for five or ten years, especially in organics, biodynamics and agroecology etc..
"Some of the really big players have invested very heavily intellectually. It's a wonderful fillip to the whole wine business when a region like Bordeaux puts its shoulder to the wheel for something like this. Bordeaux is still the standard bearer because of the scale on which it operates. So there's a lot - really a lot - of very exciting wines coming out of Bordeaux now and, in some ways, challenged but also helped by the succession of warm vintages we've had and which are redefining what we expect to come out of Bordeaux."
Although a showcase for new vintages, the En Primeur tastings also offer producers an opportunity to show older vintages, demonstrating how the wines can develop and their strong ageing ability. For Thomas Hervé, owner and winemaker at Château Moulin Haut-Laroque in Fronsac, this is very important. "The idea is to build a wine that can last a long time. The definition of a true Grande Marque should be one that is built to last. So I've brought the 2018, which is very approachable. There's plenty of tannin behind it, but the drinkability is fantastic. I also have the 2011 here, which is a very classic vintage in Bordeaux and has spent ten years in bottle (bottled in 2013). That's the true wine. The 2018 in ten years will be stronger and more structured too."
… and for those who doubt the region's spirit of innovation …
In addition to the six new grape varieties being trialled in Bordeaux to help wine producers adapt to climate change, some innovation is still possible with the traditional varieties.
Château Cap Léon Veyrin of Listrac-Médoc has made 1,500 bottles of a white Cabernet Sauvignon with an ABV of 12.5%. Winemaker Nathalie Meyre says: "We wanted to make something different. So why not a Blanc de Noirs, like in Champagne! We'd like to make more whites from red grapes in the future."
Bordeaux can offer excellent value for money, despite often being associated with the high prices of the most prestigious estates. For Jack Chapman, Head of Private Client Sales at Lea & Sandeman Wine Merchants, Bordeaux wines, including En Primeur, definitely have an important role to play in the UK marketplace, offering fine wine at affordable prices. "You need value. That's what En Primeur is there for. Of course, there's a risk as it's not the finished wine, but clients should save at least 10%, if not 20%. The fundamental importance of Bordeaux is that it's such a great way to bring people into fine wine. You could spend £30-50 and get a very good bottle of wine - something really serious. It's like being invited to a club - simultaneously accessible and exclusive. That's Bordeaux's strength and for me, they also make some of the most exciting wine on the planet!"
Philippe de Poyferré has no doubt either about Bordeaux's place in the UK, especially considering that from 1875-2000, Château Loudenne was owned by British wine and spirit merchants, brothers Walter and Alfred Gilbey. "It's a very important market. Loudenne used to be a strong brand in the UK, so we need to come back. Our wines are not expensive, compared to what you find from elsewhere. For wine aged in barrels, our level of price is hard to find. Everybody thinks that Bordeaux wines are expensive, but we are not. We are very competitive, but it will take time to restore."
