“This is a vintage for both the purists and the hedonists”

Peter Mitchell MW

For the past couple of years on our visits to Piedmont, winemakers have been whispering of how great the 2021 vintage would be and the first taste of the 2021 Barbarescos last year seemed to confirm this. Our annual January trip to taste the newly released Barolos is always one of the highlights of the calendar but this year it was filled with extra expectancy. Notwithstanding this expectation, I was still taken aback by how thrilling the wines are, in many cases even more complete than the epic 2016s.

This is a vintage for both the purists and the hedonists, with wines that transmit their terroir in a way that only burgundy can match, but which also, unlike most previous great vintages, are so packed full of fruit that, like 1953 or 1985 in Bordeaux, provide an immediacy of pleasure as well.

These are wines of haunting complexity, imbued with great levels of structure, but with tannins so finely wound into the wines that you have to seek them out rather than be ambushed by them. What is more special is the seemingly endless freshness that cuts through what could otherwise be excessive power. Many winemakers theorised to us that the unusual drought of the summer led to grapes with a different balance of malic and tartaric acid to normal, which has resulted in wines with so much energy and drive.
The fleshiness of the wines mean they should be enjoyable relatively early, but the balance and structure they are imbued with will ensure a very long life indeed.

What is also notable is the consistency across the region with exceptional high average quality – always the sign of a great year. Over days of tasting, the number of wines that felt unbalanced could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

The growing season

Winter was wet with plentiful snowfall, giving excellent water reserves in the soils for what would turn out to be amongst the driest summers on record. It was warm without excessive heat through the summer and other than a few localised hailstorms, no dramatic weather event. September was ideal with warm days and cool nights bringing the grapes gently to perfect ripeness. Harvest was later than recent years and gathered in exemplary weather conditions over the first 2 weeks of October.

2022 Barbaresco

After a summer of extreme heat and drought, one might have expected dense, tannic and hard wines, but the Barbarescos are a real surprise, being pliant, forgiving and with a delicacy that belies the season. Extreme conditions can actually slow ripening and the best estates dropped fruit for the ripening period, allowing tannins to develop fully. More gentle extraction and shorter oak ageing has created wines that, whilst not blockbusters, have lovely balance and decent weight allied to fine textures. These are wines of real charm that will drink well over the medium term.