Bolgheri latest release

A tricky, drought-stricken 2022 growing season in Tuscany gave birth to a surprising array of exceptional wines. Some of Bolgheri's leading producers reveal how they managed to rustle up miraculous results, despite the challenges

- 

Following on from a vintage as superb as 2021 would be a challenge at the best of times, but when the subsequent vintage, 2022, turned out to be extremely arid, prompting plenty of concern during the growing season, the difficulty level ramped up a notch for winemakers in Tuscany's coastal Bolgheri DOC.

Tasting through the vast majority of 2022 Bolgheri Superiore wines to be released this year – some tasted on more than one occasion – the vintage character is clear: density, concentration, slightly firm tannins, but also loads of freshness.

'Vintages like 2022 are a bit more complicated,' Gianluca Putzolu, director of Le Macchiole, tells me. 'But from the complicated vintages we make the best wines!'

In fact, almost everyone I spoke with in Bolgheri was bullish about the 2022s, despite the tricky season. One or two suggested that quality is better even than 2021.

The 2022 rollercoaster

'When a vintage is not naturally easy, we pay more attention to the choices we make,' producer Fabio Motta tells me. And that really sums up 2022, where attention to detail was key.

The winter of 2021/2022 was worryingly dry, meaning that there was very little left in the tank for the parched vines to tap into during the hot summer months of 2022. In fact, there was no rain between February and mid-August. The hot conditions accelerated ripening, but then things came to a halt as many vines shut down under the hydric stress conditions. With no rain on the horizon, summer temperatures higher than in 2021, and bunches that were no longer actively ripening, growers were rightly becoming quite concerned.