Saint Émilion, producer of great wines on the right bank in Bordeaux. Wikimedia Commons

For all the doom and gloom one hears about Bordeaux today, the region is still producing great wine, and one of the greatest vintages in recent years is 2022.

Langton’s, which has evolved over the years into one of Australia’s top importers of fine wine, has bought big on the ‘22s (160 separate wines, I’m told) and conducted some promotional tastings recently to showcase a selection of the wines—mostly red, but also a few dry whites and sauternes.

Its people describe Langton’s as the pre-eminent luxury wine business in the country.

Langtons’ Michael Anderson, head of auctions, introduced the tasting saying 2022 was a vintage of extremes, shaped by unprecedented heat and drought, despite which the finest châteaux defied expectations and produced deeply coloured, fruit-forward, powerfully structured red wines.

“Hot years can have high alcohol, jammy wines that don’t last very long. But freshness is the word often used (for the 2022s). It flies in the face of what previous hot vintages have delivered in the past. Bordeaux experienced 45 days of 30-degree heat.”

There were four heatwaves between June and August, although one winemaker said it was more like one long heatwave with four extreme spikes. Two redeeming factors seem to be that the nights were relatively cool and the heat build-up was gradual, so it didn’t shock the vines so much as a sudden heat-spike might. The result was the wines have freshness and the alcohols were not as high as in some earlier hot vintages, such as 2003. Of the 18 red wines I tasted at Langton’s, most were 14 or 14.5% alcohol, the exceptions being Lafite-Rothschild, Cantemerle and Belgrave (all 13.5%)— according to their labels.

Lafite was the star, but so it should be at AUD $1,950 a bottle. It was the only First Growth presented. What does a wine that expensive taste like?

“An exquisite nose: great fruit and oak and lovely harmony, a superb perfume of enormous detail and charm. Oak barely makes a statement, and the alcohol strength is modest. Almost understated among the big boys of the vintage. Superb balance, line and length: a study in elegance.”

My second scoring wine was Pontet-Canet, which is generally credited as being the best value of the top châteaux these days. It’s AUD $330, and I for one would prefer to buy six bottles of this than one Lafite for the money.

Cos d’Estournel (AUD $690) was also a favourite.

Figeac (AUD $850) was also highly rated, although it was massively oaky and will I suspect need many years in the cellar to come into balance: it certainly has the concentration and structure to age well.

Château Gloria is one of the best value buys, at AUD $135.

Château Corbin, of St Emilion (AUD $120) was another good value buy and will drink much earlier than the top wines. Belgrave and Cantemerle (approx. AUD $90 each) are also good values. I also loved Gazin (AUD $235), d’Issan (AUD $215), Palmer (AUD $1,050), Léoville-Poyferré (AUD $345), and Smith-Haut-Lafitte ($450).

Did I buy any?

You bet. A small cache of Pontet-Canet, Gloria and Gazin, in the hope I live long enough to see them at their best!