Among the prestigious wines of the Margaux appellation on the left bank of the Gironde, Château Palmer, with its iconic midnight blue labels, has always held a special place.
To express the potential of its legendary terroir, the estate has adopted a three-pillar approach: two equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, rounded off with a dash of Petit Verdot. This is a unique grape variety distribution, the core of which consists of old Merlots planted on large Cabernet terroirs in the 1930s. As Merlot is an early-ripening variety, it lends Château Palmer's wines a unique velvety, generous and supple character.
In the fermentation cellar, 54 fermentation tanks await the high-quality grapes, which are carefully selected and separated according to variety and terroir. Château Palmer also has an experimental room with a laboratory and nine micro-vats where studies and analyses are carried out throughout the year, guided by the same objective: to use all available means and knowledge to preserve the expression of the terroir - while carefully avoiding any hint of artificiality.
Monastic silence reigns in the barrel cellar. The kind of silence that is necessary for time to take its effect and that lasts between 20 and 22 months of maturation. The first stage takes place in 225-litre barrels, the second in 30-hectolitre vats, which give the wine its patina in the second year.
The château is cultivated according to biodynamic methods and turns away from the usual monocultures. Here, the vine is seen as part of a whole, connected to the microbiota of the soil, the guiding hand of the river, the animal world, human activity, the food landscape and the global garden.
photos: Château Palmer
