Château Palmer, 3ème Cru Classé, Margaux, 2022
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the team here decided not to do soft extractions. They wanted to build a backbone so elected to go deep with their macerations. Again, very dark and sultry. There's plenty of silky black fruit and kirsch – quite black forest gateaux, lush and detailed initially, then dominated by imposing tannins, which are quite velure in texture, but maybe too much at the moment. It'll be fascinating to see how this knits together as it feels like one of the outliers of the vintage. Made from a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot.
critic reviews
The 2022 Palmer has one of the most exotic bouquets from Margaux, yet it is still compelling: black cherries, violet, cassis and juniper. Wonderful definition, but unapologetically extravagant. The palate is medium-bodied with plush, velvety tannins matched by a silver thread of acidity. Real weight and density, this is an ambitious Margaux laden with style and panache. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The grand vin of Palmer is 45% Merlot, 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, and the yield was tiny this year, just 22 hl/ha. This takes just over 70% of the crop, and the élevage was in 50% new barrels for the first year, in foudre for the second year. The aromatics present dark, concentrated but not dried fruits, with some rose-petal freshness, tinged with little veins of smoke, dark chocolate and liquorice. This translates onto a delightful palate, immediately defined and controlled, with a sinewy and savoury substance, slowly filling out in the middle with the generosity of the vintage, all dark berries, chocolate, smoke, leather and tar, supported by a finely knapped bed of tannins which wrap up the palate in a smoky, fresh, finely grained frame, and which persist into the finish with an electric energy. A great Palmer here, with density, form and panache, giving it super potential. The alcohol on the label is 14.5%.
Mouthfilling, vivid blackberry and damson fruits, squid ink, cocoa bean, espresso, black coffee, crushed rose petals. Umami texture, with sea spray salinity on the finish, this is silky and knitted down, spice taking the place of acidity in the construction, skilful winemaking from director Thomas Duroux, yield 23hl/h.
As is the case at neighbor Chateau Margaux, the 2022 Palmer is one of the most powerful wines this estate has ever produced. A blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, it offers up aromas of blackberries, burning embers, violets, iris and sweet soil tones, followed by a full-bodied, broad and expansive palate, its velvety attack segueing into a rich and layered core. Supple, seamless and concentrated, it checks in at 14.4% alcohol and a rather high pH of 3.79.