1966 | Ch√¢teau Palmer | Margaux

Detailed Description

Elegant, floral, medium/full bodied, refined, and with a sweet, ripe, red fruit essence, paired with notes of tobacco, wet earth, smoke and cigar box. The fruit in this bottle has started to fade. Still, it was quite charming and a pleasure to taste.

Producer Information

Ch√¢teau Palmer is a wine estate located in the Margaux appellation of the M√©doc. It was ranked as a third growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, although for many decades it has been consistently rated as one of the best wines in the region. Unusually for the M√©doc, Ch√¢teau Palmer usually has as much Merlot as Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend (along with a small amount of Petit Verdot), which helps give the wine a fleshy and generous structure. It can be drunk young, but will also reward long cellaring. The Palmer vineyards cover 55 hectares (136 acres) in the former Cantenac commune (now part of Margaux-Cantenac), mostly on a plateau of thin gravel on the edge of the estuary. Vines are densely planted, as is the habit in this region, to ensure competition between vines, reduce vigor and promote deeper root systems. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats, and different plots are vinified separately to give the winemakers greater control when it comes to blending. The grand vin undergoes around 21 months of barrel aging, with up to 60 percent new oak. Ch√¢teau Palmer was once part of the d’Issan estate, and takes its name from Major General Charles Palmer of the British Army, who bought the land in 1814. He developed it considerably and gained a strong following for the wine in England. Since 1938, the Sichel and M√§hler-Besse families have been major shareholders.