Château Palmer, 3ème Cru Classé, Margaux, 2021
We're not always enamoured with barrel samples from Chateau Palmer, but the 2021 was a real highlight. We guessed it might be after the excellent Alter Ego, the grand vin raised the bar even further. Fashioned from 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 56% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, this introspective Palmer unfurls slowly from the glass, revealing a seductive and dark bouquet of griotte, Asian spices, liquorice, black tea and fine stones. This profile continues on the palate with waves of taut dark fruit, poised, muscular and refined, with a velvety texture, generous for the vintage, yet there's a crispness and refreshing line that is clearly 2021. Super-refined, with really complete black fruit core and ultra-fine-grained tannins. Virile and powerful, this is without doubt a sensational Palmer and one of the finest wines of the vintage. Bravo Thomas Douroux and team.
critic reviews
The 2021 Palmer is deep purple-black in color. Notes of Morello cherries, fresh blackberries, and boysenberries pop from the glass, followed by suggestions of cinnamon stick, Sichuan pepper, aniseed, and crushed rocks, with a hint of roses. The light to medium-bodied palate has a racy backbone and rounded tannins framing the exuberant black fruits, finishing with a burst of energy.
Vivid ruby and violet colour, this is a brilliant wine, inky and with clear supple give to the tannins. Give it a full 8 to 10 years before drinking, and here you feel that they have sacrificed very little to the vintage, this feels entirely Palmer in character. Savoury but abundant blue and black fruits, plenty of crayon, cocoa bean and slate, with a floral prettiness and a mouthwatering finish. 27hl/h yield, harvest September 24 to October 16, 55% new oak (first year in barrel, second year in larger oak caks of 3,000l).
The 2021 Palmer, which is 80% matured in foudres and the second year in regular barriques, has a very intense and well-defined bouquet. I feel that this is the first vintage where Duroux's incremental increase in foudres is moderating the impact of wood on the nose, now much more discrete and terroir-driven, with pure black fruit and a touch of brine/seaweed. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, quite velvety in texture, with a keen line of acidity and a judicious sprinkling of cracked black pepper on the finish. This Palmer seems to ride the challenges of the growing season and comes out the other side with a very classically styled wine that has intellectual heft.
The 2021 Palmer has turned out beautifully in bottle, wafting from the glass with expressive aromas of blackberries, cherries and mulberries mingled with notions of iris, dark chocolate and spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with an enveloping core of succulent fruit framed by rich, sweet tannins, it concludes with a long, expansive finish. It's a blend of 56% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot.