2022 Wine

The 2022 vintage: a sun-drenched summer, fresh wines built to age

The 2022 vintage will be remembered as one of the decade’s great surprises. The year was among the hottest and driest ever recorded, and the vines endured severe water stress through the summer. Against all expectations, the best sites produced not heavy wines but concentrated reds with restrained alcohol and a freshness that is central to their appeal. Success extends unusually widely across regions, though it is not uniform: everywhere, the difference lay in a terroir’s ability to withstand drought and maintain balance. This combination of ripeness and vibrancy makes 2022 a vintage for cellaring, provided you choose carefully.

Bordeaux 2022 — An exceptional Right Bank vintage built to age

Bordeaux has produced one of its greatest recent vintages in 2022, with the Right Bank setting the pace. On the clay-limestone soils of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, Merlot and Cabernet Franc reached full ripeness without losing their freshness, yielding reds that are powerful, velvety and profound. The tannins are ripe and supple, the structure dense, and the wines retain an energy few expected from such a hot year. The Left Bank has produced some excellent Cabernets too, though results are less consistent. The dry whites, by contrast, show more limited acidity and are best suited to shorter cellaring, while the sweet wines of Sauternes are uneven: the finest late-harvest wines are the ones to seek out.

The Right Bank’s greatest names have rarely been so compelling, and this is where the year’s benchmark bottles are concentrated. In our selection, Château Certan de May exemplifies that success: this Pomerol from the clay-rich plateau, neighboring some of the appellation’s most celebrated terroirs, delivers a dense, distinguished wine in 2022, built for the cellar. In Saint-Émilion as in Pomerol, the best wines call for patience: their full depth will emerge with time. Cabernet lovers, meanwhile, will find much to enjoy among the Left Bank’s classified growths, which are suited to long cellaring.

Cellaring potential: wait five to fifteen years for the Right Bank’s grands crus; decant bottles opened young for an extended period. Drink the dry whites for their fruit.

Burgundy 2022 — Balance and generosity after a year of scarce harvests

After three years of small harvests, Burgundy returned to substantial yields in 2022 without sacrificing quality—a rare combination. Despite a hot, dry summer, the vines produced plenty of juice, and the musts proved balanced, with moderate alcohol levels and preserved acidity. The reds show deep color, dense texture and brilliant fruit, in a ripe style whose freshness recalls the great 2019s. Round and complex, the whites combine generosity with definition. Consistency from Chablis to the Mâconnais is one of the year’s hallmarks.

From the climats of the Côte de Nuits to the slopes of the Côte de Beaune, 2022 produced Pinot Noirs that are both full-bodied and precise, alongside vibrant Chardonnays. It is a vintage with something for every wine lover, appealing in its youth yet built to last. To explore the year’s finest cuvées and the region’s great appellations, browse our selection of Burgundy grands crus.

Cellaring potential: enjoy the whites now and over the next ten years; wait ten to fifteen years for the top reds, depending on the appellation and cuvée.

Rhône Valley 2022 — Ripe Syrahs and northern freshness

In the Rhône Valley, the summer of 2022 ranks among the hottest and driest of recent decades, and the north made the most of it. Welcome rain in mid-August eased water stress and preserved the vintage’s balance. Northern Syrah reached full ripeness without excessive alcohol, yielding dense, deep reds with vibrant aromas, far from the excesses of some past sun-drenched years. The whites, particularly in Condrieu, are fuller-bodied and a little less acidic, but the best retain their vibrancy.

Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Cornas are at the heart of the vintage, with cellar-worthy Syrahs marked by intense black fruit and fine structure. The more generous south calls for greater selectivity among estates, but also offers excellent Grenache reds. To build your Rhône collection, browse our full range of Rhône Valley wines.

Cellaring potential: give the great northern Syrahs five to ten years; they can then last around another twenty years. Open the southern whites and reds sooner.

Alsace and Loire 2022 — Generous whites and vibrant Chenins

The two northern wine regions benefited from the warmth of 2022, which brought their white grape varieties to an excellent level of ripeness. In Alsace, the vintage is rich and generous: Gewurztraminers and Muscats show expansive, powerful aromas, while Rieslings retained freshness and, with it, convincing balance. Pinot Noirs reached remarkable ripeness, with intense fruit and ripe tannins. In the Loire, Chenin ripened without excess, producing luminous off-dry and sweet wines, along with dry whites to enjoy for their fruit.

In Alsace, Domaine Marcel Deiss, true to its mixed plantings and grands crus, produces whites of rare density and precision, while its finest terroir-driven Rieslings combine power and vibrancy. In Vouvray, Domaine Huet expresses all the nobility of Chenin in cuvées whose acidity keeps the wines lively, from dry to sweet. These Alsace wines and those of the Loire carry the balance that defines 2022 into the northern terroirs.

Cellaring potential: terroir-driven Rieslings and sweet Chenins can age for several decades; Gewurztraminers, Muscats and dry whites are already approachable for their fruit.

Languedoc-Roussillon 2022 — An accomplished vintage with freshness and definition

Southern France is one of 2022’s great successes, and Roussillon in particular has produced accomplished reds that are concentrated yet precise. Accustomed to heat and drought, the region’s old Grenache and Carignan vines yielded deep wines with firm structure and focused fruit, spared any heaviness by altitude and schist and clay-limestone soils. In Pic Saint-Loup, Terrasses du Larzac and Faugères alike, cool nights helped produce structured reds that remain easy to drink. This is a vintage that rewards distinctive terroirs and exacting winemakers.

Roussillon is home to leading estates. Clos des Fées’ La Petite Sibérie cuvée, an old-vine Grenache from a windswept, high-altitude plot, is its finest expression: a powerful, distinguished red with a dense structure that deserves time in the cellar. Domaine Gauby, on the schist slopes of Calce, embodies the finesse and freshness that Roussillon can achieve with old vines. From Pic Saint-Loup to Larzac, the wines of Languedoc-Roussillon from 2022 offer an appealing balance of quality and enjoyment, along with cellaring potential, making them one of the safest ways to explore the vintage.

Cellaring potential: the great old-vine Grenaches will improve for ten years or more; more approachable estate cuvées can be enjoyed now and over the next five to eight years.

The 2022 vintage: a reliable choice for the cellar

The 2022 vintage brings together what wine lovers seek in recent years: the generosity of a great sun-drenched vintage and the freshness that makes it approachable and age-worthy. Its finest bottles—Bordeaux Right Bank reds, old-vine Grenaches from Roussillon and northern Rhône Syrahs—will continue to improve for many years, while Alsace whites and Loire Chenins already offer immediate pleasure. To compare 2022 with other great years and identify bottles at their peak, keep the SoDivin Vintage Guide close at hand. Like every bottle we offer, our 2022 wines are expertly assessed, inspected and stored in our cellars until shipment, so you can buy with confidence.