2019 Bordeaux: Chateau Palmer and its Alter Ego

2 Jun 2020

Textbook Margaux: energy, precision and above all elegance

Following the precedent set by Pontet-Canet last Thursday, this morning saw the release of Chateau Palmer at almost a third below the price of last year's. After the miniscule yields of 2018 - which resulted in none of the second wine being produced - the latest vintage produced a normal size crop of 'concentrated and aromatic' fruit, 'loaded with sugar'.

Since 2014 the team at Palmer have been farming biodynamically, earning official biodynamic certification in 2017. The changes they've made in their viticultural practices have allowed the vineyards to become more resilient and the grapes to thrive as part of a wider, more balanced ecosystem. Sheep are free to graze around the vines and the diverse plant and insect populations help keep the health of the vineyard naturally in check. In the winery there's only a minimal use of SO2, and the results are wines that are balanced, pure and demonstrate both fantastic terroir expression and quality of fruit.

Jane Anson of Decanter magazine has described the 2019 Palmer as 'both measured and elegant, with textbook floral Margaux character' while the Alter Ego 'puts the emphasis on pleasure' with tannins that are 'extremely precise, but feathery and pliable'. Whilst Palmer itself will only reveal all its complexity over decades, Alter Ego offers much more immediate pleasure in very much the same vein, for drinking over the next 10-15 years. /RRS

Offered subject to confirmation; for shipment 2022