Vintage Port 2022: A tale of unexpected freshness

It’s now a worn cliché to say that good winemakers are those able to produce a good wine from a bad vintage.

Perhaps it could be added that a superior vineyard is able to withstand severe climatic conditions and still deliver outstanding fruit.

Both statements seem validated by the Vintage Ports from the troubled 2022 growing season; few but characterful, with some outstanding examples showing off some of the Douro Valley’s best sites.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for the key Vintage Port 2022 releases

Delicious imperfection

Although overall lacking the concentration and robust structure of a so-called classic vintage, there is an aromatic nuance and vibrancy to the 2022 releases that make them particularly expressive.

‘Imperfect [Vintage] Ports make perfect Tawnys,’ said David Guimaraens, technical director and head winemaker at The Fladgate Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca and Croft) at the London tasting that marked the release of the 2022 Vargellas, Sentinels and Guimaraens.

Imperfect growing seasons, on the other hand, can yield seductively quirky Vintage expressions that speak vividly of their place. It’s therefore good to see that albeit not a ‘classic’ vintage, producers allowed some 2022 offspring to become Vintage rather than future Tawny elements.

If blending a Tawny is the art of correcting complementary imperfections, the decision to release a Vintage is the acknowledgement of a potential that deserves not to be interfered with.

This potential is usually measured as a function of cellaring longevity; perhaps early-drinking pleasure should also be part of the equation. The hallmark of the best wines tasted below is their energy and approachability, with stand outs showing equal amounts of depth and structure, filigree aromas and concentration, muscle and elegance.

Future considerations

Declarations always involve complex decisions not only about the potential quality and longevity of the wines but also on market conditions and stock management – the role of the Port blender is as much about ‘management of futures’ as it is about technical expertise and alchemic intuition.

So I wonder if the limited declaration was not a product of caution and long-term planning, as much as of the admittedly challenging cards dealt by the 2022 growing season.

Especially in the face of increasing demand for old Tawny (for context, according to Guimaraens Taylor’s sold 20,000 litres of 20 Year Old Tawny in 1990; last October 2024 figures were already at 160,000 litres) and the wholesome Vintage offering following back-to-back declarations from 2015-2018.

Challenging conditions

The hot, dry year had growers and winemakers on the edge of their seats until harvest.

‘The 2022 growth cycle was one of the most challenging in the Douro,’ reads the report of Symington Family Estates (SFE), ‘with the three months before the harvest being among the hottest and driest ever recorded.’

Christian Seely, managing director of Quinta do Noval, also reported on the testing conditions: ‘2022 was a year of extremes, both very hot and very dry. Rainfall was only 364 mm during the growing season, 27 mm below the 1970-2000 average.

‘We experienced recurrent heatwaves, in early July and in early August, with prolonged periods of temperatures over 40°C, with a peak of 45,5°C in mid-July.’

Fighting fit

On the other hand, record temperatures and drought meant that disease pressure was virtually absent. Although smaller and fewer, the berries were healthy and, added Seely, ‘remarkably, the vines remained surprisingly green and free from water stress’.

Likewise, the team at SFE, ‘were astonished by how well the vines performed under such unprecedented conditions. While the grape bunches and berries were smaller than usual, they delivered concentrated wines with lifted aromas and remarkable purity of fruit.’

The challenging season allowed the best sites to show their greater resilience and consistent ability to deliver quality and complexity. Virtually all the releases are therefore either single quintas or exclusive vineyard selections – not least of Noval’s Nacional plot and Vesúvio’s Capela.

The freshness and aromatic profile delivered by these vineyards in such a hot vintage is indeed remarkable. Whether the plants will struggle in the subsequent vintages remains to be seen – the 2024 harvest seems to indicate they are successfully coping, with Guimaraens anticipating a possible wide declaration in 2026.

Sculpted by terroir

Sense of place and purity were the common denominators across Vintage 2022 declarations.

‘At harvest, the red wines had a very clean aroma and very bright, rich colours,’ explained Carlos Alves, head winemaker and master blender at Sogevinus (Kopke, Burmester, Barros and Cálem).

‘After gaining further vividness in the cellar, the group declared ‘a vintage for all four of these single Quintas [Sāo Luis, Arnozelo, Cálem and Barros], each exhibiting individual differences and representing a sense of place.’

This is indeed a Vintage collection where the uniqueness and resilience of specific terroirs really came into focus.

Taylor’s Vargellas displays its trademark florality with vividness and allure; Burmester’s Arnozelo has a perfectly outlined herbaceous savouriness; Dow’s Senhora da Ribeira displays a distinct powdery minerality with its tannins covered in graphite; Sandeman’s Seixo is easily spotted for the elegant smoky veil cloaking the dark fruit.

Vintage Port 2022 at a glance

Growing season: Extremely dry with a succession of heatwaves in July and August. Throughout June, July, and August, 58% of the days saw temperatures exceed 35ºC, with 23 days recording temperatures above 39ºC. A record temperature of 47ºC was measured in Pinhāo on 15 July.

Overall character of the wines: Great aromatic nuance and sense of plaice, with the wines reflecting the characters that make their parent vineyards distinct. Refined tannic frameworks, purity of fruit and floral/herbal details. Recurring sense of freshness, both as a product of the fruit definition and lively acid.

Stand-out releases: Quinta do Noval Nacional; Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio; Taylor’s Sentinels.

Drinking window: The Vintage 2022 Ports will benefit from some years in bottle and will surely be at their best 10 to 20 years from now. The best expressions, however, show an incredible vividness and aromatic nuance that deserve to be appreciated immediately.

Pick of the bunch

Among the Vintage 2022 releases, Quinta do Noval’s Nacional confidently stands out. The unique, dramatic plot produced a remarkable wine, with depth and concentration offset by mineral precision.

It shows an alluring freshness and drinkability while also having the power and concentration to improve in decades to come – a great accomplishment that reflects the singular, and somewhat mystifying, character of the ungrafted vineyard.

But there is no shortage of intriguing, limited-production labels for Port collectors to seek out.

A collector’s bounty

SFE released the fifth edition of Capela do Vesúvio (following 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2017), hailing from three small plots within the Vesúvio estate: Capela, Escola and Vale da Teja. A truly beautiful wine that couldn’t be more evocative of schist soils, wild herbs and summer rains.

From The Fladgate Partnership, the inaugural bottling of Taylor’s Sentinels did not disappoint. It’s produced with fruit from selected vineyards in the Pinhāo Valley, planted across four estates (Terra Feita, Junco, Casa Nova, and Eira Velha).

Located within the original 1756 demarcation, its name references the granite pillars (‘marcos de feitoria‘) once used to delineate the perimeter of ‘highest-quality Port’ areas.

The shipper plans to release Sentinels in non-classical Vintages, allowing those best-performing sites to stand out, very much like a single quinta.

Meanwhile, as SFE is yet to release half of its 2022 single quintas; the vintage will surely unveil other pleasant surprises. With Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio, Quinta do Vesúvio, Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira (all tasted and scored below) and Graham’s Quinta do Tua Vinhas Velhas (exclusive for the brand’s Matriarca club members and at the Graham’s Lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia) already on the market, SFE have held back four other bottlings.

Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos, Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim, Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha and Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais will remain in their respective cellars for future release.

For those sceptical about the dynamism of the Port industry, the 2022 Vintage is a good rebuttal.

As the Douro region goes through important challenges – both climatic and socioeconomic – and significant shifts in the structure of the wine trade, it’s encouraging to see producers asserting the singularity of vineyards and celebrating the resilience of both vines and men.

Vintage Port 2022 – key releases scored and tasted:

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