Jeb Dunnuck is the latest critic to publish his Bordeaux 2022 scores on his website.
The wine critic is full of praise for the vintage, although he is quick to point out that ‘the extreme growing season resulted in wildly divergent styles between the regions and the terroirs’. Overall, though, Dunnuck was impressed by the ‘incredibly high’ quality of the wines from both Banks. His scores reflected his enthusiasm, with 13 wines showing the potential for perfection in his eyes.
Some of the standout regions for the critic include northern Médoc and Graves, and Saint-Emilion and Castillon on the Right Bank. Pomerol was deemed ‘slightly more erratic’ but has ‘some legendary wines’.
Considering whether to buy En Primeur, Jeb Dunnuck recalls his four reasons to participate in the campaign: ‘1) If it is a great vintage; 2) if the wines are expected to increase in price; 3) If quantities are limited; and 4) if you are buying wines in formats other than 750-millimeter bottles’.
The critic points out that 2022 ‘is clearly a great vintage’, and that yields are down 15-20% on average, meaning criteria 1 and 3 are met. The price consideration, however, is less clear. Dunnuck reminds that the 2020 vintage is becoming physical, and that some 2018s and 2019s are still on the market. As such, he writes, ‘if prices are released at levels where there won’t be an increase in price until they’re bottled and on retailer shelves, there is no reason readers should pony up their hard-earned money at this stage’.
Jeb Dunnuck’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2022 wines
NB: Château Latour will not be released En Primeur.
The table above shows the 13 wines with the potential for perfection according to Jeb Dunnuck.
Of these, nine received a barrel range of 98-100 points, including the ‘absolutely brilliant Château Montrose and a ‘legendary’ Château Mouton Rothschild, which ‘will unquestionably play with the top wines in the vintage’. Château La Conseillante ‘has perfection written all over it’, while Château Cos D’Estournel was ‘one of the finest wines to ever pass [Dunnuck’s] lips’.
Four other wines were awarded a barrel range of 97-100 points, notably Château Pétrus, ‘clearly in the top handful of wines in the vintage’ and Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, which according to Dunnuck is ‘one of the gems from Pauillac’.
Liv-ex Bordeaux 2022 En Primeur coverage
Liv-ex will be publishing release posts during En Primeur and has a range of tools and insights to help navigate the campaign. Our Bordeaux 2022 page contains links to key prices, critic scores, and reports and release blogs.
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Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 620 merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines.
