I was fortunate enough to be invited to the dinner hosted by Jean-Louis Carbonnier of Chateau Palmer last night at Marche Moderne in Costa Mesa - a favorite restaurant of the foodie wine geek crowd in OC. (The general manager of the restaurant is starting to recognize me…I think that’s not a good thing) A pleasure to meet Jean-Louis, and to hear the many stories of Bordeaux, the primeur market, the Latour decision, and most interesting to me was Palmer’s take on critics, but I digress…
Food was excellent, as usual, and service as well. On to the wines:
2006 Chateau Palmer Alter Ego - beautiful young nose of red fruits, graphite, very expressive. Big tannic structure, long finish that is remarkably ‘clean’. Excellent
The next bottle was interesting - this, and the other wines, were served single blind, technically, but only this one was somewhat of an experiment with the winery. My notes first: Far more perfumed and complex nose, vibrant. Smells young, yet somehow integrated . Huge tannic structure - still youthful - beautiful round dark fruits, silky finish. We later found out that this is the XIXth Century Historical Wine from Palmer, which is primarily '07 Chateau Palmer, with 15% Northern Rhone Syrah. I was disappointed in myself for not recognizing the Syrah, but I guess I really didn’t even think to look for it!
2002 Chateau Palmer - taking a look at what is considered a ‘weak vintage’ by the critics. Older notes on the nose, redder fruits, more musk and spice, perfume emerges after a short while, very complex however, highly acidic, tiny non-drying tannins, with a great structure.
1996 Chateau Palmer - nose JUMPS out of the glass - even from the other side of my placesetting. Gorgeous floral, red fruits on the nose, silky mouthfeel with sweet fresh red fruits, some anise and leather, and a very elegant finish.