Château Palmer, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, 2009

Vault Wine: This wine is stored in our vault.

Overview of the Wine
A gentleman, officer, and aide-de-camp of the Prince of Wales, Charles Palmer was famous at the English court as a ladies man and for his military victories. He fell under the spell of Bordeaux as well as the charms of Marie de Gascq, a beautiful widow who convinced him to buy her estate.

Charles Palmer devoted a great deal of time, energy, and money to developing his property. The Major General lived mainly in England, and so the estate was managed by his authorized representative, Mr Grey, who helped to increase the wine's reputation among wealthy connoisseurs.

In June 1853, the brothers Isaac and Emile Péreire, famous bankers and rivals of the Rothschilds, bought Palmer and began investing in the estate immediately. However, there was not enough time to bring Chateau Palmer up to first growth status in time for the famous 1855 classification. It was thus ranked a Third Growth, although it is widely recognized as among the greatest wines of Bordeaux.

Several families of Bordeaux, English, and Dutch extraction all involved in the wine trade, united to buy Palmer in 1938 and have worked hard to give the estate its present reputation. These families have always given priority to quality, despite the financial risk this entailed. They have unfailingly applied the principles that have made the great wines of Bordeaux so successful: authenticity, quality, and permanence.

Grape / Blend
52% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and a whopping 7% Petit Verdot

Origin
Margaux, Bordeaux, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The grapes arrived in the winery at slightly higher temperatures than usual. The crops had to be cooled to make sure that the fermentation temperatures were well controlled. The extraordinaryrichness of the musts demanded constant monitoring by batch in order to precision-manage the extractions. These efforts were both encouraged and rewarded by the very high quality of the daily tastings: we were stunned by the freshness, density and finesse of the batches. This is a terroir vintage, in which each plot fully expresses its singularity and contributes thereby to blendings of very great complexity.

99 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The 2009 Palmer is unquestionably one of the greatest young Bordeaux I’ve tasted, and it has a rare mix of richness and elegance that’s incredible. Blackcurrants, violets, lead pencil shavings and a touch of minerality all emerge from this rich, massively concentrated Margaux that still glides across the palate with no sense of weight or heaviness. It’s perfectly balanced, has a ripe, hedonistic core of fruit, as well as integrated acidity. It’s a dream today, but is going to have 30-40 years or more of prime drinking.

98 Points - James Suckling
This has such class and power. Aromas of blueberries and blackberries, with hints of violets. Full-bodied, with polished tannins and a juicy finish. Solid and extremely pretty. Fabulous finish.

98 Points - Decanter
One of the great years of Bordeaux now at 10 years old and showing why this is such an unusual vintage in terms of the depth of structure and muscular concentration that was achieved. In fact, I am upping the drinking window from the last time I tasted this, as there is such a pulse of life and grip that shows no signs of going anywhere. The initial layers are starting to be peeled back, but this retains primary black and blue fruits that are still full of flesh alongside baked earth, tons of liquorice and black chocolate with a grippy tannic structure, fresh acidities and a serious attitude. Brilliant stuff, that is clearly going to power on for decades. Harvest September 22 to October 20.

98 Points - Wine Enthusiast 
A beautiful wine, with the firmest tannins surrounded by perfumed fruit. It is dense, of course, but this density is balanced with great elegance, blackberry fruits, sweetness and final juicy acidity. The wine is structured, a powerhouse of concentration while preserving this complete style. *Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2012

98 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Enthusiast 
Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Palmer delivers a beguiling array of black fruit—warm plums, cassis and black cherry compote—with kirsch and wild sage sparks plus profound suggestions of fragrant earth, black truffles, iron ore and liquid licorice. Full-bodied, rich and decadently seductive in the mouth, the generous fruit is superbly framed with plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.

97 Points - Decanter
A deep, rich and subdued nose slowly unpeels to reveal violets and peonies. The palate is rich too, with an incredible texture and a smoky edge which comes out on the mid-palate. It's so young still, it will go and go and lives up to some of the best Palmers on record. It's not as elegant as the 2005 or 2015 perhaps, but the generous fruits are matched pace for pace by the natural tension and tannic grip. It's just beginning to bed down, never mind open up. Very good quality.

96 Points - Vinous
The 2009 Palmer has a rich, opulent and ravishing bouquet with precocious kirsch and boysenberry aromas, blue fruit exploding in the glass with aeration. This still feels very backward. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine bead of acidity. Superb mineral tension with great precision towards the finish. Thomas Duroux crafted a superlative Palmer in 2009, one of the finest in recent years.

95 Points - Wine Spectator
This is on another level from most in the appellation, with gorgeous layers of warm currant confiture, smoldering tobacco, licorice snap, warm paving stone and anise all framed by tarry but integrated grip. Stays sleek and well-defined through the finish. Should age beautifully.

Product size: 750ml

Excluded from additional discounting.