TN: 2009 Chateau Palmer

Ship it to Portugal and I’ll open it on my 30th!

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Sell it and buy another case of Sociando Mallet! This is what I do on a regular basis (not with Palmer since I don’t have any but with any number of similar “great” wines!)

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My comment was in jest! I have plenty of friends and clients that adore wines like this, and judging by the notes in CT, I’m clearly the odd duck. Always good to have some trophies like this in your cellar.

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True! I still have a few Saint Emilion 2005s for those “special” occasions with certain in-laws!

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That’s actually cruel, you must not like them!

:wink:

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Sell and buy 2010.

I tried this at a mass tasting and my immediate impression was – this is the very best Southern Rhone I have ever tasted!

I agree completely with Robert that the style reads nothing like left bank Bordeaux, but it is not “overdone” in the sense that the wine actually works and is delicious. It’s like taking a bath in decadent wine hedonism, but it’s not actually imbalanced or hot or sickly sweet, it hangs together as a good wine even if not very Bordeaux-seeming.

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and if you tasted this blind would you pay going rate for it?

If you liked the style and had the money (big if), then sure. I mean, you could probably do worse from Napa in the fruit bomb department for the same price. Wines like this and Tertre Roteboeuf show that Bordeaux can frequently do Napa better than Napa.

Well said, as always, Marcus! I’d take this Palmer and Tertre Rotebeauf over most of the Napa stalwarts/cults. And clearly the vintages push them left and right of center. I’ve had some Rotebeauf that I have loved, think 1999, but I’d never buy a 2015 or 2018. I have also loved other, more classic vintages of Palmer. Mark recommended 2010, which is not a move I would have made, but he knows better (tastes more). The 2010 has some really good left banks but also very high ABV.

I actually had a good experience with the 2015 Tertre Roteboeuf. It is a very solid, tight balanced wine although it is certainly sweet and rich. Pretty tannic now but the tannins are very well managed and not raspy. 14.5% alcohol which – let’s be honest – is sadly no longer unusually high for any right bank wine in any year. Real crowd pleaser too. Not the greatest food match though, kind of bulldozes everything in its path flavor wise right now. As usual with TR it has a lot of interesting meat, leather, earth, dark black cherry flavors to complement its sweetness.

The thing is that a lot of the problems of “big” alcoholic wines is not just that they are big or sweet but that they are unpleasantly out of balance. This has become a problem for some Bordeaux as well. I’ve never experienced TR as having that balance issue, it’s well structured and doesn’t lose control. I feel like if you want the kind of flamboyant sweeter cocktail wines people go to Napa for, TR is a better bet than most if you like the earthy style, because it keeps that balance so well.

The 2014, which I bought, is 13.8%

I just went back for a mixed case of 09 and 10 palmer. I think at this point Palmer is my favorite Bdx producer.

Good man ! If want the best Palmer since 1962, grab some 2018.

I stand by my comment on a previous thread.

“Reminds me of a defensive tackle running the 40 yard dash in under 4.4 seconds.“

Check your actuarial tables, as it ain’t going to be drinking well for thirty plus years,

I have a ton of 18, havent opened any yet.

Lol, anyone who read his note would know that was the case. Hey, to each his own. I am guessing I would have enjoyed it, as I am capable of enjoying the existence of ripe fruit in my wine, whereas Owlman must overcome that “flaw.”

Fruit is overrated!

I’ll save this for another gathering. I’m guessing it pairs well with puréed egg plant with pine nut and other avian seeds and tomato peal pepper.

This will grow up to be Palmer. Yes, it needs a few decades. I’m up in the air about when to open my first bottle. Meanwhile, 2004 is starting to drink well, even though that’s also too young.

Dan Kravitz