Vintages 2022, a year of anthology 🍇

Assessment and outlook within the Domaines et Châteaux Gerard Bertrand

• One of the best vintages of the last forty years
• A scorching summer, among the hottest recorded in thirty years
• A vintage marked by a Mediterranean imprint
• 69 days of harvest from August 11 to October 19, the greatest amplitude ever known at Gérard Bertrand
• 1040 hectares harvested by hand
• Complementary grape profiles to create great blends

AN EARLY YEAR

Thanks to a mild winter , the vine's growth cycle started early, with buds appearing ( budding ) from March.

Our vineyards escaped the spring frosts and thus continued regular vegetative growth without major constraints (neither water stress nor parasitic attack) until flowering . This took place fifteen days early, in excellent conditions, thus allowing a high fruit set rate (formation of grape berries), even on grape varieties known to be sensitive to coulure (Grenache and Merlot). The grape cluster output (number of clusters per vine) was generally quite generous. The winegrowers' actions of disbudding and thinning as the harvest approached were decisive in our vineyards to obtain the balance necessary for the production of our great wines.

Subsequently, this calendar advance was reduced, mainly due to water rationing which made it possible to approach maturation and the first sequences of manual harvests for the whites and early reds (Pinot noir), ten days earlier than in 2021.

It also manifested itself on short-cycle grape varieties (mainly white varieties), although it was completely reduced on later grape varieties, whose harvest was able to benefit from a late season that was incredibly favorable to slow and qualitative ripening.

After the coolness of early spring and from May onwards, temperatures were well above seasonal norms, which places the 2022 vintage among the three warmest of the last thirty years.

Overall, we had rainfall typical of a Mediterranean climate. With a relatively rainy winter around the famous "March showers" and a dry spring concluded by a storm at the end of June, we were able to calmly get through the summer "dip".

Despite a hot summer marked by temperature peaks, the thermal regulation of the Mediterranean and the well-watered soils allowed the plant to reach maturity in an excellent vegetative balance. This balance allowed a natural rationing of the water supply, guaranteeing an excellent health condition and regulating the qualitative growth of the berries.

The vines have comfortably survived these heatwaves, thanks to:

• practicing biodynamics for over 20 years
• the choice of grape varieties adapted to the terroirs
• early disbudding
• precise control of plant nutrition
• alternation of plant covers (green manures)
• soil work

A few storms and maritime entries around the beginning of September came to cool the atmosphere and bring a touch of humidity. It was at this moment that the key to the vintage was played out : without rushing the harvest; the significant attention that we pay to the grapes allowed us to get through this episode, while maintaining an exceptional health condition, and to wait for the full maturity of the grapes (skin, pulp and pips).

A vintage of ANTHOLOGY

The planets were aligned to produce an exceptional vintage , among the best of the last forty years. We will have to go back to the 2011 vintage to find a comparable reference. Carried by our winegrower's patience, the grapes brought together all the factors favorable to the production of very great wines: controlled and moderate loads, small berries, soft tannins.

After 2021, a vintage with a deficit in volumes, particularly due to spring frosts, 2022 was looking generous and promising from the end of spring. Then, it was during a scorching summer that the harvest began.

9 weeks of harvest: an unprecedented amplitude

The harvest started early: The first plot of Sauvignon Blanc was harvested on August 11, followed by our Chardonnay and Viognier with beautiful expressions of citrus, pineapple, apricots and white peaches.

Then came the Pinot Noirs, rich and with silky tannins, the Syrah, the Grenache, with a spread of manual harvests until October 19, 2022, or 69 days of harvests. An exceptional year!

Having a good understanding of the behavior of each grape variety, the functioning of each terroir, and the weather conditions was this year an essential element in designing harvest schedules and resulting in a vintage that will likely be remembered as the best of this first part of the 21st century.

An exceptional diversity of terroirs, which suggests great blends

Blending is a crucial step in the development of our great wines. After all the attention paid to our grapes and vines, this is where we give way to the exceptional know-how of Gérard Bertrand.

The same grape variety has several expressions on our different terroirs. Our exceptional vineyards, cultivated biodynamically, are located on the most beautiful vintages of the South of France, Corbières-Boutenac, Terrasses du Larzac, Minervois La Livinière, La Clape, Limoux, Cabrières to name but a few. Over the course of our tastings, it is striking to note, for the same grape variety, very different wines depending on the vineyards from which they come. This is a chance for our blends, because we can thus compose complex, expressive and very diversified wines.

The South of Languedoc will be rounder and richer, while the North and West will be fresher and fruitier. The rosés are fresh, fruity and deep. The reds are already very expressive, with beautiful polyphenolic structures of elegant tannins.

The extractions were again very gentle this year. The tannic structures developed very quickly, the perfect control of the vatting time allows us to have fruity, spicy wines in the cellar, without any over-ripe character. We are waiting for the start of the second fermentation called malolactic to tackle the January blends, with great impatience and enthusiasm.