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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
From 1844 to 1853, Château Palmer was managed by the Caisse Hypothécaire de Paris. In June 1853, the brothers Isaac and Émile Pereire, two powerful Second Empire bankers, rivals of the Rothschilds, bought Palmer for 413,000 francs – a considerable sum at the time.
Like General Palmer, Émile and Isaac Pereire (born in Bordeaux in 1800 and 1806 respectively) were uncommon people. Their story is a French-style success story. They made their fortune in finance and real estate and contributed to modernizing France during the Second Empire. They took an active part in Haussman's and Napoléon III's rebuilding of the “new Paris” and built railroad lines throughout the country. Their foremost achievement in the Aquitaine region was the creation of Arcachon, a seaside resort near Bordeaux.
With Château Palmer, the Pereire brothers held the crown of their accomplishments in their hands. They immediately set out to reorganize the vineyards but, unfortunately, there was not enough time before the historic 1855 classification to raise Château Palmer to first growth status. And so the property is classified a third growth even though it is widely recognized as ranking among the greatest Bordeaux wines.
Isaac and Émile Pereire continued to beautify their estate. In 1856, they commissioned Bordeaux architect Burguet to build the present château. The late 19th century was not an easy time for them. The Pereire brothers and their descendents fought off mildew and phylloxera, survived the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and then World War I. Only the great economic crisis of the 1930s eventually forced them to let go of the estate.