Provence : 2022, a “thirsty“ vintage

In Provence, the 2022 vintage was notable for the absence of the four seasons. Autumn and winter resembled each other with average temperatures of around 11°C, lovely sunny days and very little rainfall.

The start of spring was a more worrying time for the winegrowers due to the negative temperatures. On 26 and 29 March, the thermometer even plummeted to around -6°C. But, thanks to a very late pruning compared to the previous year, the vineyards were not damaged by the spring frosts. This cold snap was soon over and replaced by a dry, mild spring, which enabled the vine to develop quickly in good conditions. With this generous spring, the soil work and the various tasks on the Domaine could be carried out with ease.

At the end of May, we saw a uniform flowering take place on the earliest ripening plots. The advance in the vines’ phenological stages compared to the previous vintage soon disappeared due to the lack of water accumulated over the winter. The vines began to suffer from the summer heat and water shortfall (barely 135mm accumulated from January to the end of July).

The veraison, a period when our grapes take on their most attractive colours, did not occur until the start of August for all the red and white grape varieties. Fortunately, the rainfall in August (60mm) got the vine moving again before the harvest and the ripening of the grapes then accelerated. The desired degrees were quickly reached, so the harvest was started on 23 August, which was early compared to previous vintages. The picking had to be carried out very quickly to preserve our rosés’ typical freshness and prevent the very sunny nature of the growing season from becoming the vintage’s hallmark feature.

We kicked off the harvest with our plots of Merlot as well as our Grenache and Syrah. This was followed by the picking of the whites, particularly our Les Infirmières Single Vineyard. We needed to wait a bit before harvesting the grapes for our red wines at phenolic maturity: the Esquirol Single Vineyard was harvested on 19 September.

This vintage, which was very complex due to the effects of the heatwave and the cumulative water shortfall (230mm in total), lent our rosés a pale colour, a tight nose and a firm palate with some lovely tart notes and a gorgeous freshness imparting character. Taking advantage of the sunshine and fairly cool temperatures at the foot of Mont Aurélien, Esquirol, shows a lovely aromatic complexity, with intense notes of red and black fruits, and great ageing potential. For the whites, the exotic fruits combined with notes of white flowers and a lovely acidity further heighten the expression of the Clairette from our Les Infirmières Single Vineyard.

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