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n addition to the exceptional earliness of the vintage, “at a comparable potential degree and constant plots over the period, 2022 presents berry weights lower than the average of the last 10 years” notes the Cooperative Institute of Wine (ICV).
For Chardonnay and Sauvignon, these are the second lowest berry weights following 2019 and before 2016. “For the Cabernets, the weight is -26% lower compared to 2021 (and the ten-year average) and -13.5% compared to 2019, the year with the lowest berry weights so far” detail the consultants.
Even if the berries get bigger from week to week, the bunches seem not very compact and light. The first tastings show a low presence of juice, signs of water stress and phenolic maturity lagging behind technological maturity.
Small berries at veraison will not be able to give large berries at harvest, warns the ICV, recalling that the definitive number of cells per berry has already been fixed. The cells can nevertheless fill up during maturation, in a situation of water comfort. Rain would therefore be more than welcome.
Winemaking tips
Faced with small berries at harvest and during vinification, the consultants recommend increasing the doses of enzymes and the choice of suitable formulations. “All our results show increases in juice yields with enzyming for direct pressing work between 5 and 15% depending on the case and with always more free-run or low-pressure juice (therefore less crushed and less tannic, at lower pH)”.
Alongside enzyming, they recommend that winegrowers tighten the crushing, drain as soon as the axial presses are filled, by opening the drains, and make a maximum of six rotations during this time. The pressing program can also be adapted according to the level of juice flow.
