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Wine Description
The Story
Vintage after vintage, the wines of Château Palmer express our vision of an exceptional wine. We believe that it is born of the mysterious trilogy – terroir, history, memory – and all of our efforts are concentrated on bringing it into the world. Distinction, high standards and commitment are the values that guide every choice we make from the vineyard to the table where the wine is served.
Knowing
Knowing your terroir, your grapes, and your wines – this is a threefold enterprise of patient observation. What seems to be a given is in fact a matter of exacting standards at every moment. To know the terroir you have to become intimately familiar with it. We strive to know the grape variety, subsoil, and exposure of each and every plot but also of each and every row within the plot, as we regard every vine as a unique individual. To know our grapes well, we closely monitor their development until maturity. To know our wines, we taste the batches, the vats, the barrels, and the bottles again and again.
Understanding
Progress in œnology has provided us with insight into the development of wines. Progress in agronomy has given us a better understanding of the life of our vineyards. This makes for more precision in our interventions as much in the winery as in the vineyards. Applying the best technical innovations in a spirit of reconciliation between science and craftsmanship, we use all relevant means to reveal the unique character of the Palmer terroir with each new vintage.
Creating
With the grapes that nature offers us, our job is to create the best possible wine. Is this craftsmanship or artistry? No doubt both. Like skilled craftspeople that love their trade, we select and blend the batches with meticulous care. And like artists, we let ourselves be swept away by the work that is born, as it imposes itself upon our will, surprises, amazes and transcends us.
Kindling desire
Ultimately our goal is to make Château Palmer wines as desirable as can be. To achieve this, everything we do, whether we work in the vineyard, the winery, or in the offices, is informed by high standards and a sense of detail Nothing is left to chance, not the choice of paper for a label, or that of an etching for the wood crates, or of a theme for a reception.
Wine Information
2006 was a generally hot and dry year, marked by brutal fluctuations in the weather.
Budbreak was in late March. Flowering took place as usual at the end of May and the first ten days of June with nice, cool weather: a homogeneous flowering with no noticeable signs of coulure.
Heat wave temperatures (35°C) were common during the second half of June and the month of July. This hot and dry weather was luckily peppered with short thunderstorms. In these conditions, veraison was early, and was practically finished by the end of the month of July. August was marked by a sudden reversal of the situation. The cool and rainy weather considerably slowed the ripening process, prompting a substantial amount of work in the vineyard (green harvest and leaf thinning). If the level of rain in August was not generally superior to that of the last thirty years, it still presented an important risk of mildew that required constant vigilance. The end of August and the first ten days of September saw a return of the heat wave, with temperatures reaching 35°C, thus accelerating the previously sluggish ripening process, while making the grape skins more fragile. The rainy period that followed, luckily accompanied by cool temperatures, demanded our utmost attention in order to harvest each parcel at the right moment.
Despite the inconsistencies, the weather conditions were actually favorable for the quality of grapes grown on great terroir. June and July allowed the grapes to stock a potential for quality that was revealed as they ripened in September. The rich and powerful tannins don’t overshadow the elegance of our wines, nor their delicate aspect and depth.
Harvest dates: from 09/19/2006 to 10/02/2006
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon: 56%
Merlot: 44%
Ageing potential
2016-2040++
Tasting
Tasting notes from Enrico Bernardo, 12/01/2011:
Clear, luminous ruby-red colour with deep purple highlights.
Elegant bouquet reminiscent of vanilla, mint, wild roses, and roots.
Magnificent balance on the palate. Straightforward, as well as beautifully round and fresh, with a sensual mouth feel.
Fine Wine Magazine, Michael Schuster, 01/06/2011
« Sweet, early bouquet of cassis and cedar; very nicely balanced, gently fleshy, classy wine, with a very fine, dry tannin; long; easy; graceful, and fleshy core within the firmly tannic frame; ripe, fresh, spicily complex and with a long aromatic finish. Complete but with an austerity suggesting it needs another 8-10 years in bottle at least. 2018-2030+ »
Fine Wine Magazine, Thierry Desseauve, 01/06/2011
« Brilliant and classy texture, red-fruit aromas, soft and aristocratic texture and body, fresh and long. Palmer has made even better since this vintage, but it is undoubtedly the best Margaux of this tasting. »
TELECRAN, Claude FRANCOIS, 10/01/2009
« Nez enveloppant, girofle, la grande finesse, mûre, myrtille,
cuir et cèdre, grande minéralité, vin serein, harmonieux
et affichant une grande finesse. Bois noble, tout
est en phase. Un grand Palmer. »
http://www.jancisrobinson.com, Jancis Robinson, 09/14/2009
« Very deep crimson and cassis colour. More red fruit and a Cab Franc-like nose even though there is no CF in there. Raspberry and pencil lead and even a little minty and cinammon spice. And cedar and herbs. Some orange? Pure cassis and dark plums as it opens up. Very inviting bright fruit with toasty oak still evident. Melted chocolate tannins. Utterly seductive even in youth. Soft even though the tannins and acidity give sufficient framework for the fruit. Ready early? Even with all the rich fruit there’s freshnes on the finish. Quite powerful but a real smooth talker. Seductive is the word. Lovely fantail across the palate. Long sweet finish yet fresh. Softer tannins than the 04.
Drink 2011-28 »
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Stephen TANZER, 05/15/2009
« Deep red-ruby. Aromas of blackberry, licorice, minerals, flowers and peat, with some chocolatey oak emerging with air. Juicy and silky on the palate, with lovely clarity and inner-mouth perfume to its flavors of black fruits, minerals and iris.
Finishes long and firmly structured, with intriguing soil tones and lovely floral lift. Classic medium-bodied claret. »
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Stephen TANZER, 05/15/2009
« Deep red-ruby. Aromas of blackberry, licorice, minerals, flowers and peat, with some chocolatey oak emerging with air. Juicy and silky on the palate, with lovely clarity and inner-mouth perfume to its flavors of black fruits, minerals and iris. Finishes long and firmly structured, with intriguing soil tones and lovely floral lift. Classic medium-bodied claret. »
Wine Spectator, James Suckling, 03/31/2009
« Coffee, plum and spices on the nose follow through to a full body, with lovely fruit and a soft, silky-textured finish. Very balanced and beautiful, with lots of violet, new wood and richness. Long. Needs time. Best after 2015 »
