Alter Ego de Château Palmer, Margaux, 2023
Produced from a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2023 Alter Ego is packed with hedonistic dark fruit, minerals and spices. The fruit is sweet and plush with lots of purple fruit and blackcurrants character, hints of graphite framed by decadent, powdery tannins. Quite an ambitious, sumptuous style.
critic reviews
Opaque purple-black in color, the 2023 Alter Ego strides confidently out of the glass with bold notions of crunchy black plums and redcurrant jelly plus suggestions of bay leaves, graphite, and mossy tree bark. The medium-bodied palate is bright and shiny, with vibrant black and red berry flavors and a racy backbone textured by grainy tannins, finishing with a cheeky herbal lift. The blend is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot.
Vivid ruby plum colour, great depth of flavour, balancing spiced plum, fennel, rosemary and anis with juicy blackberry and damson fruit, all delivered with a caress of floral aromatics and well-paced momentum. The August and early September heat waves meant lost yield but higher concentration, and this is a structured Alter Ego that stretches out through the palate, with a kick on the finish. September 11 harvest through to October 5, 25% new oak for ageing.
The 2023 Alter Ego represents one-third of the crop, coming exclusively from gravel soil and picked at 32hL/ha. It displays a very deep purple hue. The bouquet is notably opulent, with the Merlot very expressive and shaping the aromatics at the moment. Hints of cassis and violets lurk beneath, perhaps needing a little more delineation. The palate is actually cut from a slightly different cloth, more restrained and a touch spicier than expected. Graphite and tobacco emerge toward the finish, as if the reins have been passed over to the Cabernet component. This will be fascinating to revisit in bottle—I would just like to see more aromatic composure.
Wafting from the glass with pure aromas of cherries, berries, plums and potpourri, the 2023 Alter Ego de Palmer is medium to full-bodied, bright and vibrant, with a vigorous core of fruit framed by supple tannins. It's a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot.