An astonishingly resilient vintage with a truly exceptional quality. A magnificent vintage that, contrarily to expectations, triumphed over spring frosts, drought and heatwaves to offer superb balance, density and freshness. This was a year in which the terroir demonstrated its extraordinary capacity for resilience when it is well cared for and the surrounding ecosystem is preserved.

While, at the end of August, the gardens and trees were already showing signs of fatigue and losing their leaves due to 2022’s four heatwaves and exceptional drought, the vines remained green and in excellent health. To protect them against such extreme conditions, we have been practicing preventive measures for several years, such as late pruning, plant cover and relatively little tillage. The vineyard was managed very carefully during July and August, by spraying calcium and clay, to give the vines relief from the heat, and aeration of the foliage around the bunches, but without thinning the leaves so as keep some protection against the sun. The harvests, which began on 24 August for the whites, progressed quickly without any problems, and the last rows of Cabernet Sauvignon were picked on 29 September.

Although early, the vintage nevertheless produced perfectly ripe grapes, which offered superb structure. The whites display great finesse, airiness and surprising freshness. They are very elegant, the Sauvignons are particularly expressive with an excellent tight structure. The very precise vinification and the gentle barrel-ageing have enabled a bright, lively character to be highlighted. For the reds, the key to this vintage lies firstly in the exceptional maturity of Malartic’s Cabernet grapes. This allowed us to obtain sumptuous wines with superb substance and a silky texture supported by a dense structure.

Malartic 2022’s tannic balance is thus particularly interesting: With plenty of freshness, the slender Merlot brings volume and softness. The spectacular Petit Verdot, with remarkable fruitiness and creaminess, contributes with the Cabernet Franc to a global freshness and aromatic richness. Malartic 2022 reveals tremendous harmony and silkiness, accompanied by very elegant, finely textured tannins, worthy the greatest vintages.