Last week, William Kelley (Wine Advocate) released his in-bottle scores for the Bordeaux 2022 vintage. The critic was effusive in his praise, awarding 10 wines a perfect 100-point score. By comparison, he awarded perfect scores to only 6 wines from the 2019 vintage, 7 from the 2020 vintage and none from the 2021 vintage.
Kelley drew comparisons of the 2022 growing season to that of the considerably less acclaimed 2003 vintage. According to him, while both vintages were marked by extreme heat, in 2022, vines had time to acclimatise – they were ‘forced to adapt to warm, sunny, dry conditions from the beginning’. In 2003, extreme heat followed ‘a normal, rainy spring’, shocking the vines.
The difference in quality between the two vintages was not solely environmentally driven. Rather, ‘thoughtful canopy management’ and ‘progressive agronomy’ paid off for viticulturists who were more prepared for the 2022 than for the 2003 heatwaves. He adds that ‘more numerous, smaller fermentation vats’ also proved invaluable – winemakers could choose to harvest at the right time rather than waiting longer for enough grapes to fill larger vats.
Successful producers created wines with ‘aromatic range and freshness’, balancing ‘density and structure’ with ‘textural refinement and charm’.
What were Kelley’s top-scoring wines?
Kelley notes in his report the success of Merlot in the 2022 vintage, awarding five of his ten 100-point scores to Right Bank, Merlot dominant wines. Château Lafite Rothschild 2022 was the only First Growth to earn a place amongst his top 10, though Château Latour 2022 followed closely behind with a 99+ point score.
Antonio Galloni (Vinous), whose in-bottle scores we reported on in February, awarded five 100-point scores. Only Château Montrose 2022 received 100-point scores from both critics.
Château Troplong Mondot 2022, at a Market Price of £1,306, may present a good value opportunity. Kelley states that he has ‘never tasted a Troplong that’s quite so powerful or quite so harmonious and suave’.
The state of the market
Kelley highlights current market conditions in his report, noting that the 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux vintages trade for less today than their En Primeur release prices. According to him, it is ‘far from clear that [the 2022s] will be more expensive three years from now’. His point already rings true — since the En Primeur releases of the 2022s, Market Prices of many wines have fallen substantially. As shown in the above table, only two of Kelley’s top-scoring wines – Lafleur and Petrus, which are tightly released on allocation – have seen positive price performance over the past year. Still, the critic believes that ‘no matter the price’, the best of the 2022s are ‘wines that everyone is going to want to have in their glass’.
100-point scores have historically resulted in increased demand and, in some cases, better price resilience. Below are the best live bids and offers for Kelley’s 100 pointers.
| Wine | Level (31/07) | MOM (%) | YTD (%) | 1y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 | 328 | -0.7% | -2.0% | -5.9% | 22.3% |
| Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 | 300 | 1.5% | -0.8% | -3.2% | 24.3% |
| Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 | 307 | -0.5% | -0.5% | -3.4% | 28.9% |
| Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 | 346 | 0.5% | -0.6% | -3.3% | 40.8% |
| Liv-ex Fine Wine Investables | 332 | 0.5% | -0.4% | -3.1% | 26.5% |
| FTSE 100 | 6,152 | 0.4% | -18.4% | -17.2% | -5.7% |
| S&P 500 | 3,271 | 6.9% | 1.2% | 9.8% | 55.5% |
| Gold | 1,957 | 9.8% | 28.2% | 36.9% | 78.7% |
| Name | Qty | Format | Offer £ | Offer $ | Offer €/btl | Offer to Market Price % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chateau Figeac 2022 | 59 | 6×75 | 1,116 | 1,460 | 223.2 | -10.7% |
| Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2022 | 28 | 6×75 | 2,611 | 3,415 | 593.8 | -6.8% |
| Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2022 | 20 | 6×75 | 1,203 | 1,574 | 240.6 | -2.2% |
| Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2022 | 6 | 6×75 | 849 | 1,110 | 169.8 | -0.6% |
| Chateau Lafleur 2022 | 3 | 3×75 | 2,688 | 3,516 | 1,075.2 | -0.4% |
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 £140m of bids and offers across 20,000 wines.
