I am breathless with the dark-berry, lavender and burnt-orange aromas. Some salt. Just so formidable and deep. Stunningly sexy on the palate with a density and power, yet it leaves things so clean and bright. You want to drink it and enjoy it now, but it has the structure to last forever. Drink in 2022.
The 2015 Palmer has an outstanding bouquet featuring extraordinarily pure and intense scents of blackberry, cassis, cedar and pencil box, quite opulent but already irresistible. The supple, medium-bodied palate offers firm tannin, impressive weight and girth, and white pepper and sage toward the persistent finish. There is a lot of matter in this Margaux and it will require a decade to reach its drinking window. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2015 Palmer explodes with flamboyant notes of kirsch, blackcurrant pastilles, and blueberry compote with exotic wafts of Chinese five spice, rose oil, sandalwood, and wood smoke. Full-bodied, the palate is a veritable firework display of opulence, delivering plush, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length and decadence. The blend is 44% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Petit Verdot.
One of the gems in Margaux is unquestionably the 2015 Palmer. Possessing more elegance and purity, as well as concentration, than the Alter Ego, it offers up a gorgeous bouquet of crème de cassis, caramelized cherries, charcoal, and graphite, with just a hint of spring flowers in the background. A final blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot that was brought up in 70% new oak, this full-bodied, ripe, incredibly polished 2015 is already hard to resist given its elegance and purity, yet should be at its best from 2023-2043. If you have more than one bottle, it's sensational today as well. 2023 - 2043
Tasted blind. Dark, blackish crimson. Too dense to have much aroma? Sweet start and very dramatic. Luscious and attention-grabbing. Alcohol makes its presence felt but overall in balance and pretty gorgeous.
Drink 2024-2042
Traditionally the finest wine of the Médoc after the 1st growths, Palmer slipped a bit in the 1980's but has returned to top form recently, rejoining the super-second mini-league alongside Lascases, Cos d'Estournel, Ducru, Pichon Lalande, etc. The talented wine-maker is Thomas Duroux who always produces a pure, smooth and elegant wine with (for the Médoc) a high proportion of Merlot in the blend. Since 2014 the vineyard has been certified biodynamic. The 2015 blend was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot with a yield of 37 hl/ha from vines averaging 40 years of age. Less than 50% of the vineyard's total production. Vibrant purple colour and an amazingly aromatic nose that fills the room. Blueberry, violets, blackberry and blackcurrant, this nose is both ripe and floral, with just a touch of vanilla pod. The palate is concentrated and ripe with dense fruit, but retains a fleet-footed, svelte mouthfeel as the flavours move from ripe black fruits to more lifted, floral notes. Elegance and subtlety build on the finish with supremely polished, fine-grained tannins. Ethereal and very long.
The nose has a fragrant floral freshness the palate brooding richness with the black fruits backed by chocolate and coffee. The tannins are fine the mid palate supple but there is balance with fresher black fruits give a lighter feel on the back palate the finish is long lighter and elegant.
Floral, appealing and remarkably loose knit and open at this young age, this is a very
appealing rather than a profound Palmer, with succulent red berry fruit, notes of tobacco and
cedar wood and good underlying structure. Needs to put on a bit more weight in barrel.
Drink: 2022-30
While the second wine from this esteemed Château, Alter Ego, focusses on fruit ripeness, Grand Vin Palmer focusses on
phenolic ripeness and this is clearly evident in this elite wine. There is marked concentration, depth and intensity making
this Nureyev to Alter Ego’s Fonteyn. There is sublime freshness on the nose of this wine. Winemaker Thomas Duroux
explained that his careful biodynamic approach might have slowed this wine down and unlike many others which seem
fairly precocious and eager, this is a wine stuffed with active energy as opposed to layered with passive energy. I cannot
agree enough with this ascertain because this is a Palmer with brooding power and a very long life ahead of it.
Bottled relatively late in mid-September 2017, the 2015 Palmer is a blend of 44% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon with a small portion of Petit Verdot. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it offers vibrant red currants, black cherries, wild blueberries, earth and mineral characteristics to begin, with slowly unfurling floral notes of violets and dried roses plus compelling baker’s chocolate and fragrant earth layers. Medium to full-bodied, generously fruited and possessing firm yet very, very fine-grained, mind-blowingly ripe tannins, the multifaceted palate features something of a skip in its step in terms of freshness, while it goes beguilingly earthy on the finish with some mineral hints. Very classy, elegant and sophisticated, this vintage is downright regal in its juxtaposition between poise and audaciousness. Think 2005 Palmer with a tick more fruit intensity, perfume and passion. 2025 - 2050
The 2015 Palmer is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot with around 14.1% alcohol, a little higher than usual. It is much more backward on the nose than the Alter Ego and demanded coaxing from the glass, eventually revealing scents of blackberry, cassis, boysenberry, crushed stone and a touch of vanilla pod, beautifully defined with a brooding sense of power. I suspect that this will be no shy and retiring violet when it reaches full maturity. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins that caress the mouth on the entry, and it is a voluminous Palmer, not heavy but multifaceted. Black fruits are laced with oyster shell, hints of allspice and crushed stone, delivering a crescendo toward an intense finish that this château has specialized in under winemaker Thomas Duroux. It will require at least a decade in bottle, but I probably agree with the estate that it will last many decades. Superb...but only for the patient. Anticipated maturity: 2025 - 2065.
The 2015 Palmer is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot matured into up to 70% new oak. The official start of the picking was 22 September, finishing on the 7 October with the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Sauvignon. This has a wonderful bouquet with layers of dark cherry, boysenberry, a faint hint of dark chocolate and minerals. There is superb delineation here. The palate is medium-bodied, but this constitutes a decidedly more structured Palmer than I have encountered in recent years, perhaps a little more masculine due to the slightly higher Cabernet content. This is a classic Palmer made by winemaker Thomas Duroux, symmetrical in some way, poised and effortless on the finish. Those who like the more showy Palmer might not warm to this 2015, but this has real class and sophistication, a Palmer that will repay those with the nous to cellar it for 10-15 years. Expect it to reside at the top of my banded score. Drink 2027-2060.
A wine with incredible character and style with black ink and blueberry aromas and flavors. Full body, extremely fresh and structured with riffing tannins. It is muscular and powerful. White pepper, sea salt, mineral, stone character. A wine built for the long term. The making of the new 1961.
A really massive step above Alter Ego on the nose. Really fresh and polished. Lovely bramble fruit. Not that dense but really complete and beautifully balanced. Silky tannins. Real drive and lift towards the end. Very Margaux. 14.1%
Drink 2023-2040
