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Wine Description
The Story
It has always been the Champagne PALMER founders’ will and spirit to maintain an active policy of preservation of rare and wonderful vintage wines: 1989, 1987, 1985, 1979, 1976, 1961, 1959... They are one of the prides of our House and often constitute a real revelation.
These inestimable flacons are kept many long years in a position known as "sur pointe ", that means on the wine deposit, the bottles being upright placed, necks upside down. This position allows to slow down the exchanges which are going to take place gently and smoothly between the wine and its deposit; this is the security of a “second life” for the champagne.
A long maturation of twenty years and more, in the heart of our deep chalky cellars, confers a rare complexity and a plenitude to these flacons. These wines of a luxurious golden color develop complex and elegant flavors (honey, toasted notes, coffee bean, dried fruits, spices, truffle …) and an intensity of taste concentrated in a palette of extraordinary nuances, while keeping a remarkable freshness.
The champagne “sur pointe” will keep on improving and developing its wealth until the day it is disgorged (expulsion of the deposit). This operation is made on demand, by small lots, a few weeks before delivery.
These flacons of anthology are fundamentally wines for meals. It’s around a table, in association with chosen dishes that they reveal their incredible wealth and subtlety. They always bring a supplement of refinement and allow to compose brilliant gastronomic symphonies.
Vintage 1990
Originally hailed as the best of the 1988/1989/1990 trilogy, the wines have developed quicker than anticipated with premature oxidation having crept in early on. Thus, I have downgraded my rating from five stars to four stars. There was frost damage in April but the vintage was made by the long, hot and dry summer. Rains in the latter half of August somewhat elevated the rot occurrences. Picking began during the second week of September and the crop was the third largest at the time (11,963 kg/ha) and the wines had excellent alcohol and acidity levels. The ripest vintage since 1959 is showcased by the depth and finesse of the Champagnes. The cuvées still drinking impeccably include the whole range of Dom Pérignon (Rosé, P2, Rosé, Rosé P2), Philipponnat Clos des Goisses and Louis Roederer Cristal..