Château Palmer lifts the veil on its 2015 vintage
Today sees the 10 year re-release of Château Palmer’s 2015 vintage on La Place de Bordeaux, after a decade of ageing in the property’s cellars. The 2015 vintage is just the second to have been farmed entirely biodynamically. It is also the latest in a fine series of vintages ending in a ‘5’, dating all the way back to 1975.
The beginning of the vine’s growing cycle was characterized by a relatively dry climate. The vegetative development was extremely regular and the flowering conditions were perfect. The rainfall that followed the fertilization of the flowers enabled good berry growth. In late June, temperatures rose and the dry weather settled, favouring an early end to vegetative growth, the thickening of the berry skins, the concentration of tannins, and the rapid growth of pips. At the end of July, the weather conditions changed radically with a succession of moderately rainy periods. This encouraged the ripening to begin and the berries to grew to a more traditional size.
The appellation of Margaux enjoyed especially favourable weather conditions throughout September. The first young vines were harvested on September 15, with the harvest starting in earnest on September 22. The Merlot grapes were magnificent, rich, and very ripe. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes followed and were just as promising. The relatively high alcoholic content of the 2015 vintage is perfectly complemented by the dense tannic structure free from any rustic notes thanks to the perfect phenolic maturity of the pips and skins. This outstanding balance leads to obvious comparisons with other recent great vintages, such as 2010, 2009 and 2005.
As Thomas Duroux, Palmer’s Director, explains, Château Palmer 2015 is “a wine with joyful memories created from an abundance of sunshine with fruit that grew with remarkable assuredness. This is a complex, perfectly structured wine, designed with great precision, more serious than exuberant”.
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The wine is offered in original wooden cases of 1, 3 or 6 bottles and 1 or 3 magnums.
Château Palmer 2015 (Margaux; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 44% Merlot; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 37 hl/ha; aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 60% of which were new; pH 3.85; IPT 79; 14% alcohol). Soft, succulent and beguiling in its elegant florality despite the underlying power, this is a wonderfully managed 2015 as it has always been. The quality of the tannins is truly exceptional and there’s a subtle nuttiness to this indicating the full phenolic ripeness of the grapes from which it is composed. If I am honest, and despite its colossal reputation, this has never been my favourite Bordeaux vintage. But the appellation of Margaux is something of an exception and, alongside Chateau Margaux itself, Palmer’s grand vin seems to transcend the often somewhat caricatural aspect of this undeniably ‘solaire’ vintage. There’s a very evident and pleasing whetstone character to the minerality here and the cedar accentuates the delightful, archetypically Margelais, rose and lavender florality. That renders this more classical and composed than many. Gorgeous now, but incredibly youthful for the vintage and with considerable aging potential. 97.
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