Chateau Palmer 2018

SKU
CHPA201812 UCAU
  • Vintage quality: Legendary
  • 100 points Decanter
  • 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot
  • 1 or more bottles
    $900.00
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  • Decanter
    100 points
  • Vinous
    100 points
  • Jeb Dunnuck
    99 points

Editors notes

Château Palmer is a wine estate located in the Margaux appellation of the Médoc. It was ranked as a third growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, although for many decades it has been consistently rated as one of the best wines in the region. Unusually for the Médoc, Château Palmer usually has as much Merlot as Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend (along with a small amount of Petit Verdot), which helps give the wine a fleshy and generous structure. It can be drunk young, but will also reward long cellaring.

The Palmer vineyards cover 55 hectares (136 acres) in the former Cantenac commune (now part of Margaux-Cantenac), mostly on a plateau of thin gravel on the edge of the estuary. Vines are densely planted, as is the habit in this region, to ensure competition between vines, reduce vigor and promote deeper root systems.

Details

Tasting Profile

  • Light (Light)
    Full (Full)
  • Low Tannin (Low Tannin)
    Tannic (Tannic)
  • Sweet (Sweet)
    Dry (Dry)
  • Low Acidity (Low Acidity)
    High Acidity (High Acidity)
  • Aroma
    • Blueberry
    • Boysenberry
    • Herbal
  • Palate
    • Blue Fruits
    • Cassis
    • Graphite

Food Pairings

  • Pork
  • Red Meat

Critic Scores & reviews

  • Decanter

    100
    "Beautifully rich even on the nose, this makes you smile from the first moment. On the palate things are intense and concentrated, as you might expect with an 11hl/ha yield (mildew-related). Upfront flavours major on big bitter chocolate with touches of smoke and grilled cedar, lots of savoury fruits and touches of reduction. Extremely impressive how layered and textured it is, though it really needs decades to reveal itself. There is the seductive floral edge of Palmer as it opens in the glass, but this is a muscular wine that needs time. 79% new oak. No Alter Ego in 2018. Bottled July 2020 after one year in barrel and a second year in larger Stockinger barrels for 20% of the crop to soften the oak influence. It's extremely hard for top estates to deliver consistency and innovation over decades; it really is like a sports team in that way, and this is a standout success in what was an extremely challenging year for Palmer."
  • Vinous

    100
    "The 2018 Palmer is a legend in the making. I had an inkling out of barrel, but such was its intensity that I wanted to assess it in bottle before I felt confident in saying so, because this could have gone either way. It storms from the glass with black fruit and floral scents, crushed violet and incense that knock your senses sideways while retaining brilliant delineation and focus. The palate is not quite as bold and brassy as when I tasted it from barrel, though I can vouchsafe that among over 20 vintages of Palmer that I have tasted at this stage, this is easily the most extroverted and powerful, displaying a kind of millefeuille of intense black fruit counterpoised by a razor-sharp line of acidity. This audacious Palmer was still revving its engines 48 hours after opening. There will never be another Palmer like this, sui generis. It was a massive risk. But by throwing caution to the wind, something extraordinary was born. (NM)"
  • Jeb Dunnuck

    99
    "While there's not much to go around, the 2018 Château Palmer is unquestionably a stunning bottle of wine. I certainly can't think of another Palmer coming close to this level of concentration (maybe the 2010 comes closest?). This blockbuster boasts a dense purple hue as well as a primordial bouquet of black cherries, mulberries, and blackberries intermixed with freshly crushed rocks, smoke tobacco, gravelly earth, lead pencil shavings, and burning embers. With full-bodied richness, a dense, stacked mid-palate, mouthcoating tannins, and a blockbuster of a finish, it's going to need 10-15 years to hit maturity, and as I wrote last year, will live for just about forever. 99+"

Other vintages

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Locations

France

Wine is being produced throughout France and has been done for over 2,500 years with certain Châteaux dating their history back to Roman times, around 6th Century BC. Ranking second in the world in per-capita consumption and first in total production quantity. More so than the overall quantity of wine is the quantity of truly great wines coming out of France makes the nation the envy of wine-making nations worldwide.

Two concepts pivotal to the higher end French wines, in particular, are the idea of 'terroir' and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. Terroir refers to the way the geography, geology and climate find their way into the glass, telling a story of the origin of the wine. The AOC was set up in 1935 and has the primary goal of protecting the authenticity of the wines and the livelihoods of the producers. Appellation rules strictly define which varieties of grapes and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or in some cases, like in Burgundy even specific vineyards.

Classic wine regions in France include Champagne (home of Champagne), Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot), Alsace (Aromatic varietals), Loire Valley (Chenin Blanc, Crémant) and the Rhône Valley (Syrah, Grenache Mourvedre)

The Bordeaux classification of 1855 is still in use, as is the Sauternes and Barsac Classification of the same year. Wines from certain regions can be bought En Primeur, which is when the wine is sold prior to it being bottled.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux has a rich history of winemaking, dating back to the Roman times. Today, it is known as one of the most significant wine regions in the world, with a reputation for producing complex, full-bodied red wines. The region is home to a diverse range of terroirs, each with its own unique microclimate, soil composition, and grape varieties.

The left bank of Bordeaux is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, which thrives in the region's gravelly soils. These wines tend to be bold, tannic, and complex, with notes of blackcurrant, cedar, and tobacco. On the right bank, Merlot is king, producing wines that are softer and fruitier, with notes of plum, cherry, and chocolate.

Aside from the red blends, Bordeaux is also renowned for its sweet wines, particularly from the Sauternes and Barsac appellations. These wines are made using a unique process that involves botrytis, or "noble rot," which concentrates the sugars in the grapes, resulting in a lusciously sweet and complex wine.

Bordeaux's classification system has evolved over time, with some estates moving up or down the ranks depending on the quality of their wines. Today, the system includes five growths, with Premier Cru being the highest and Deuxièmes Crus being the second-highest. There is also a separate classification for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, with Chateau d’Yquem holding the highest rank.

Overall, Bordeaux is a region that continues to captivate wine enthusiasts around the world with its rich history, diverse terroirs, and exceptional wines.

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About the brand Chateau Palmer

Once a part of the ancient estate, château d'issan, divided by the heirs of the foix-candale family in 1748, 50 hectares of vineyards came to the gascq family. Though without association to any noble château, the wine produced became château de gascq, quickly established in the market and served at the court of versailles under louis xv.

Château palmer, is a winery in the margaux appellation d'origine contrôlée of the bordeaux region of france. The wine produced here, was classified as one of fourteen troisièmes crus (third growths) in the historic bordeaux wine official classification of 1855. The property is situated in the communes margaux and cantenac, and its wine is considered to be one of the two most popular third growths.

Since 1998, the château has been producing also a second label, not a second wine, alter ego de palmer, selected from the same quality terroirs, but employing different wine-making techniques and different proportions of grapes. In order to produce an earlier-drinking wine. Some 40% of the estate's production, is now sold as alter ego de palmer. The result has been a significant reduction in the quantity of wine sold as château palmer (from nearly 20,000 cases before the introduction of alter ego de palmer to 11,000-12,000 cases currently). The previous second wine, la réserve de général, is not a component of alter ego de palmer, but is now sold off in bulk.

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