Palmer 2015

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2015 Palmer is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot matured into up to 70% new oak. The official start of the picking was 22 September, finishing on the 7 October with the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Sauvignon. This has a wonderful bouquet with layers of dark cherry, boysenberry, a faint hint of dark chocolate and minerals. There is superb delineation here. The palate is medium-bodied, but this constitutes a decidedly more structured Palmer than I have encountered in recent years, perhaps a little more masculine due to the slightly higher Cabernet content. This is a classic Palmer made by winemaker Thomas Duroux, symmetrical in some way, poised and effortless on the finish. Those who like the more showy Palmer might not warm to this 2015, but this has real class and sophistication, a Palmer that will repay those with the nous to cellar it for 10-15 years. Expect it to reside at the top of my banded score.

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2015 Palmer is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot with around 14.1% alcohol, a little higher than usual. It is much more backward on the nose than the Alter Ego and demanded coaxing from the glass, eventually revealing scents of blackberry, cassis, boysenberry, crushed stone and a touch of vanilla pod, beautifully defined with a brooding sense of power. I suspect that this will be no shy and retiring violet when it reaches full maturity. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins that caress the mouth on the entry, and it is a voluminous Palmer, not heavy but multifaceted. Black fruits are laced with oyster shell, hints of allspice and crushed stone, delivering a crescendo toward an intense finish that this château has specialized in under winemaker Thomas Duroux. It will require at least a decade in bottle, but I probably agree with the estate that it will last many decades. Superb...but only for the patient.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2015 Palmer is a wine of total refinement and class. All the elements are wonderfully meshed together, as they always have been from the very start. Dark black cherry, plum, mocha, licorice, spice and leather notes are all seamless in the glass. The tannins are present, but they are silky and pretty much buried by the sheer luxuriousness of the fruit. Palmer is one of the most complete and harmonious wines of 2015. This is a brilliant effort from Thomas Duroux and his team.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

A dark, voluptuous beauty, the 2015 Palmer is just as beautiful today as it was from barrel a few months ago. Mocha, plum, black cherry, tobacco and cedar are fused together in an effortless, racy Margaux endowed with real pedigree. Sweet tannins round out the plush, seamless finish, but they are there. This is a hugely promising Palmer. The blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2015 Palmer has an outstanding bouquet featuring extraordinarily pure and intense scents of blackberry, cassis, cedar and pencil box, quite opulent but already irresistible. The supple, medium-bodied palate offers firm tannin, impressive weight and girth, and white pepper and sage toward the persistent finish. There is a lot of matter in this Margaux and it will require a decade to reach its drinking window. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

robert_parker98

Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Bottled relatively late in mid-September 2017, the 2015 Palmer is a blend of 44% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon with a small portion of Petit Verdot. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it offers vibrant red currants, black cherries, wild blueberries, earth and mineral characteristics to begin, with slowly unfurling floral notes of violets and dried roses plus compelling baker’s chocolate and fragrant earth layers. Medium to full-bodied, generously fruited and possessing firm yet very, very fine-grained, mind-blowingly ripe tannins, the multifaceted palate features something of a skip in its step in terms of freshness, while it goes beguilingly earthy on the finish with some mineral hints. Very classy, elegant and sophisticated, this vintage is downright regal in its juxtaposition between poise and audaciousness. Think 2005 Palmer with a tick more fruit intensity, perfume and passion.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2015 Palmer is a wine of total refinement and class. All the elements are wonderfully meshed together, as they always have been from the very start. Dark black cherry, plum, mocha, licorice, spice and leather notes are all seamless in the glass. The tannins are present, but they are silky and pretty much buried by the sheer luxuriousness of the fruit. Palmer is one of the most complete and harmonious wines of 2015. This is a brilliant effort from Thomas Duroux and his team.

james_suckling99

Reviewed by: James Suckling

A wine with incredible character and style with black ink and blueberry aromas and flavors. Full body, extremely fresh and structured with riffing tannins. It is muscular and powerful. White pepper, sea salt, mineral, stone character. A wine built for the long term. The making of the new 1961.

james_suckling100

Reviewed by: James Suckling

I am breathless with the dark-berry, lavender and burnt-orange aromas. Some salt. Just so formidable and deep. Stunningly sexy on the palate with a density and power, yet it leaves things so clean and bright. You want to drink it and enjoy it now, but it has the structure to last forever. Drink in 2022.