Wine Advisor
Palmer 2006
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
From only 50% of the harvest, administrator Thomas Duroux has produced a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Merlot from yields of 37 hectoliters per hectare. The 2006 reveals a touch of austerity along with an impressive dense purple color, and sweet aromas of flowers, licorice, black currants, oak, and underbrush. This structured, powerful, medium to full-bodied, beautifully made, ageworthy 2006 should be ready to drink in 5-6 years, and keep for 25-30.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Southwold ’06 Bordeaux tasting. This has a very ripe, blackberry, savoury, almost Pomerol-like bouquet with good definition. There is certainly attractive Merlot here that offers gamey, wet sand and earthy aromas. The palate is full-bodied with lovely, saturated tannins, good acidity, firm backbone here underlying those layers of oak-saturated black fruits. Nice poise on the finish with great delineation. Cassis, blueberry and plum towards the caressing, sensuous and yet precise finish. Lovely. Tasted January 2010.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Tasted at the Grand Vin Masterclass in January 2010 Deep garnet-purple colour. Ripe plum, cassia, cardamom and a whiff of musk / animal on the nose with some mocha and cigar boxes. Medium to high acidity balances out the concentrated dark cherry richness. Medium to firm level of fine tannins and a long finish.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau. So, Palmer made a better wine than the invincible Chateau Margaux in 2006? Looks like it, for no other reason that Palmer is blessed with superior terroir suited towards that grape varietal. Simple as that. A deep purple/garnet hue. A deep, opulent, compelling nose of blackberry, cedar, limestone with a certain “coolness” about it. The palate is full-bodied with filigree tannins and wonderful delineation. It has a tension that I did not find in Chateau Margaux, whilst there is an added dimension of something from the sea, a slight briny element. Good persistency, beautifully poised finish, this wine sets the benchmark for the appellation in 2006. Tasted April 2007.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The dense ruby/purple-hued 2006 Palmer reveals sweet aromas of melted licorice, underbrush, toast, plums, and black cherries. Outstanding density, a medium to full-bodied style, and a personality that recalls 1996, this blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Merlot possesses moderately high tannins as well as plenty of aging potential. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2028.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep red-ruby. Aromas of blackberry, licorice, minerals, flowers and peat, with some chocolatey oak emerging with air. Juicy and silky on the palate, with lovely clarity and inner-mouth perfume to its flavors of black fruits, minerals and iris. Finishes long and firmly structured, with intriguing soil tones and lovely floral lift. Classic medium-bodied claret.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good full red. Subtly perfumed aromas of plum, milk chocolate, cedar, menthol and smoke. Sweet, supple and deep, with a pungent minerality to the flavors of mulberry, currant and chocolate. Very suave and harmonious wine, offering a lovely combination of volume and energy. Duroux ultimately included 47% merlot in the blend, and this must be some of the best merlot of the Medoc in 2006. Finishes very long and perfumed, with terrific vinosity. (At a much lower price point, the estate's second wine, Alter Ego, is also unusually elegant and juicy in 2006.)
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(56% cabernet sauvignon and 44% merlot; 12.9% alcohol) Good deep ruby-red. Deep, ripe, minerally aromas of plum, mulberry, chocolate and mocha. This boasts a lovely sappy sweetness leavened by fresh acidity, with the chocolatey ripeness carrying through on the palate. Offers terrific but subtle depth of flavor. Wonderfully chewy, dense wine with very suave tannins, firm underlying structure and excellent grip.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Château Palmer was wonderful out of barrel ten years ago and now in bottle, it fulfills its promise with a stunning, precise bouquet of maraschino, iodine, cassis and tobacco scents that seem a few years younger than its Margaux peers. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin that cloak its sweet core of cassis and blackcurrant fruit. However, what is so striking is the fineness of the tannin and just how well that oak is subsumed into the fabric of the wine. This is a long-term proposition: a great Margaux from Thomas Duroux. Tasted January 2016.
About the Producer
The fine seaside climate and soils of Long Island’s North Fork provide exceptional conditions for the making of world-class varietal wines. With 110 acres planted with Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc to supply the winery’s 20,000 annual case production, Palmer strives to preserve and enhance the purity of flavor and distinctive, fresh character which makes this region’s wines so unique. The state- of-the art winery contains the most modern winemaking equipment available today, and also includes substantial new French oak cooperage, purchased each year, for both barrel fermentation of our Chardonnay and the aging of our premium red varietals.
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