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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
Characteristics of the vintage
After a mild spring and even flowering, the weather remained hot and sunny right up to harvest time with the exception of some light rain in mid-September. The berries were consequently small with thick skins, with high levels of tannin and sugar.
The wines were deeply coloured, fruity and powerful and their good tannic structure made them apt for long ageing.
Although 1975 was hailed as a great vintage at the time of the harvest, certain wines have proved something of a disappointment, due to the fact that many grapes were picked before optimal maturity and because the high tannin levels have required long ageing to soften.
Harvest dates: from 09/23/1975 to 10/05/1975
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon: 47%
Merlot: 40%
Petit Verdot: 8%
Cabernet Franc: 5%
Tasting
Tasting notes from Enrico Bernardo, 12/01/2011:
Clear garnet-red colour.
Hints of cocoa, black fruit jam, pepper, and blackberry on the bouquet.
Round and smooth on the palate. At its peak. Wonderful tannin. Rich and concentrated, with good length. Fresh aftertaste.
Tasting notes from Georges Lepré, 02/04/2012:
This much heralded vintage is now beginning to reward the patience of those who have waited so long.
The colour is still deep and the wine is perfumed with a magnificent bouquet of fresh plums and cherries with hints of pepper and liquorice.
The palate is rich, full-bodied and dense and the powerful tannins have now rounded down to contribute to the wine’s great balance and charm.
Vintage 1975
Bordeaux: After four miserable vintages came the hot vintage of 1975 which briefly put Bordeaux wines in the spotlight once again. The unstable temperature of September turned into good weather for the harvest. The grapes were high in sugar, but many reds, especially those made from Cabernet Sauvignon, lacked phenolic ripeness. This resulted in masculine and even aggressive reds with austere and even harsh tannins.
Wines from Graves and Pomerol turned out to be the most delicious this year. La Mission Haut-Brion and Lafleur-Pétrus stand out as the best, with Trotanoy right after them. Pétrus turned out to be very exceptional with a more aggressive and full-bodied style than usual. The Lafite-Rothschild at the reasonable price of 300 euros is the first Lafite seventies which gives a promise of improvement. On the other hand, Haut-Brion, considered very good, turned out to be a slight disappointment.
For dry whites, it was exceptional and Sauternes was an excellent vintage. The best Sauternes experiences were Yquem, Coutet, Gilette and Suduiraut.
