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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 2008
After a mild and dry late winter season, budburst was delayed by a cold spell that set in from mid-March to late April. A very rainy month of May ended with a hail storm that hit the south of the Médoc, including a few Château Palmer plots, which added to the stress that the vine was undergoing. Flowering took place in June under particularly unfavorable conditions of cool, rainy weather, which caused widespread coulure.
The mildew pressure was constant this year.
The weather in July plays an essential role in the synthesis of phenolic compounds and it was a beautiful month, for the most part. Summer started off nicely from the very beginning, with a long period of relatively dry, beautiful weather lasting from June 20 to August 10. The less favorable period that followed and lasted until September 14 made us forget those weeks to a certain extent, all the more so because we had to fight off diseases.
The cold, wet conditions in August and early September gave way suddenly and unexpectedly to a very sunny dry spell, as a northern wind set in from September 14 on, drying out the pockets of botrytis.
We were able to wait for the late maturities to complement each other, with no major sanitary concerns. The nights were cool. This lent itself to a gentle, harmonious maturation, which brings out in turn a very elegant aromatic expressiveness. A miracle as only nature knows how to produce them!
The Merlots displayed unexpectedly high levels of concentration, with degrees between 13.5° and 14.5°. The sugar content of the Cabernets sauvignon grapes hovered as usual around 12° and 12.5°. But there again we found a nice concentration of phenolic compounds and perfectly ripe tannins. They are velvety and display beautiful volume on the palate.
Harvest dates: from 10/01/2008 to 10/17/2008
Blend
Merlot: 51%
Cabernet Sauvignon: 41%
Petit Verdot: 8%
