Château Laroze 2022

The 2022 vintage in Saint-Émilion

Vintage benchmark: 97/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: The extreme drought was absorbed by the clays: a sun-driven concentration, but without the expected harshness.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Émilion. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

The vintage

Cold winter with early frosts from November (eleven morning frosts down to -6°C in December). Hard frosts from 1 to 5 April, against which the frost fans and anti-frost candles protected the vineyard. Drought from 24 April to 15 May, with flowering in ideal conditions (mid-flowering on 21 May for Merlot and Cabernet Franc, 23 May for Cabernet Sauvignon). Heatwave from 14 to 18 June (39°C), then from 11 to 18 July (40°C on the 18th), with 18 days at or above 30°C in July; only 36 mm of rain in two months, from July to mid-August. The berries are very small (0.6 g on average instead of 1.2 to 1.5 g). The hot, dry spell ended on 22 September; picking finished on the 29th.

2022 was the kind of hot, dry year that shapes the very great Bordeaux vintages. The smaller berries contributed exceptional colour, mouthfeel and depth; the preserved freshness makes the wine vibrant and not in the least heavy.

Mid-veraison: Merlot from 28 to 31 July, Cabernet Franc from 8 to 10 August, Cabernet Sauvignon on 5 August. Yield: 37 hl/ha. Blend (estimate): 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Number of bottles expected: 130,000.

Blend of the 2022 vintage

Figures from the 2022 sheet

• 37 hl/haYield

Winemaking

Hand harvest from 15 to 29 September 2022: Merlot from 15 to 23, Cabernet Franc from 26 to 29, Cabernet Sauvignon from 27 to 29. Stainless steel and cement tanks.

Ageing

18 months of ageing: 55% new barrels, the rest in terracotta jars and tanks. Bottled in May 2024.

Terroir

A Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé since the first classification of 1955, Château Laroze spreads its 27 hectares of vines at the foot of the northwest slope of Saint-Émilion and its medieval village, 1.5 km from the village. The vines wrap around the château. Soil tilling, grass cover between the rows, drainage of the plots, organic amendments and a ban on weed-killers help the roots penetrate a soil of silica laid over a layer of clay. The quality of this terroir is favourable to the development of Cabernet Franc.