Why Chateau Palmer is the wine you need to be drinking
How the winery tends to every barrel individually to retain the third growth’s beautiful, velvety taste
In 1814, a British officer in the service of King George met a young widow who wanted to sell her estate, the Domaine de Gascq. His name was Charles Palmer and, whether he was charmed by the lady or by her land, he acquired the estate and began a 200-year tradition of exceptional wine production.
Château Palmer, the name shared by both the estate and the wine produced upon it, is an incredibly velvety Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot hybrid that subtly balances aromatic richness with a powerful, yet very refined, tannic structure.
But whilst every vintage shares these core characteristics, Château Palmer’s Annabelle Grellier is also keen to emphasise how distinct each of the wines can be.
‘The bouquet of Palmer wines are, of course, very different from vintage to vintage,’ says Grellier. ‘But, whilst they offer these nuances, which reflect every subtlety of the terroir, our wines generally exude a very complex nose, with floral, fruity and spicy notes, which evolve to truffle, smoke and cigar notes after years of ageing in the bottle.’
Yet despite acknowledging the importance of heritage and priding themselves of unparalleled ageing techniques, Château Palmer, who still follow a traditional production process, are always experimenting in order to improve.
‘Blending innovation and tradition is very important to us,’ says Grellier, ‘and one of the key developments of these last few years is our transition to biodynamics – shunning chemical inputs. We’d never call it a revolution as we’re simply adapting the methods that were used by our ancestors, but we would call it a very exciting evolution, as the effects we’re seeing in the vineyards have been very impressive.’
Château Palmer, Grellier reveals, approaches barrel-ageing their wine as one would raising children. The process calls for a similar sense of attention, constant supervision and, depending on the needs of each vintage, distinct levels of nurturing.
‘And then,’ Grellier adds, ‘the bottle-ageing process is just magic. Varietal aromas will progressively evolve and tertiary aromas of cedar and tobacco will evolve. These are typical of great Bordeaux wines which, like ours, have a high proportion of Merlot grapes.’
So what should we be pairing a Palmer wine with at this time of the year? ‘When the harvest comes, we’d suggest you pair a Palmer with a lovely piece of veal or lamb from Pauillac, with perhaps some panais or Romanesco cabbage.
‘It’s imperative to balance the structure, acidity and taste of the plate with the wine, something our in-house chef – Seiji Nagayama – does by adding citrus thyme, wild arugula or pineapple sage grown carefully in his garden. But that’s just the autumn pairings – a Château Palmer can be enjoyed all year round!”
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