Château Palmer 2014 re-released into the market

Today (26 September) sees the ten year re-release of Château Palmer’s 2014 vintage on La Place de Bordeaux, after a decade ageing in the property’s cellars. db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay tastes the release. 

The 2014 vintage is, in a way, the start of a new epoch at Palmer, being the first to have been farmed entirely biodynamically after a trial period in certain parts of the vineyard. Impressively given that, 55% of the total production was selected for the grand vin, the highest proportion since 2010. The vintage also marked the 200^th anniversary of the acquisition of the property by the eponymous General Charles Palmer.

The growing season was not without its complications, with a relatively overcast early summer finally giving way to Indian summer conditions in September and October. The harvest finished on 14 October. The season had started well with a relatively damp winter replenishing water reserves, and flowering went well in the spring. But in early July the weather became less stable and the vines focused on foliage to the detriment of their grapes. August saw little improvement and ripening was painfully slow as the grapes began to swell. Luckily, the sun finally returned at the end of the month and September’s extraordinary weather conditions transformed the profile of the vintage. As the berries finally started to concentrate, levels of sugars, anthocyanins and tannins increased. On 22 September the first Merlot plots were harvested and the particularly good weather allowed the chateau to pick “perfectly ripe” grapes. In the cellar, and for the first time, no sulphur was added to the grapes.

The finished blend comprised 45% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot.

As Thomas Duroux, Palmer’s director, explains, Château Palmer 2014 is “the very definition of a vin de garde, its aromatic palette continuing to develop over time. It has taken to cellaring magnificently, exuding fruit and minerality and continues to surprise us while confirming its exceptional character”.

The wine is offered in original wooden cases of 1, 3 or 6 bottles and 1 or 3 magnums, with a  ex-négociant price of €250 per bottle. According to Liv-ex data, this is 56% above the original release price en primeur in 2015, which stood at €160 per bottle or £1,500 per case of 12. Today’s release to the international trade at £2,580 per case of 12 lies 33% above the current market price of £1,940, Liv-ex added, although since the original release, prices of this vintage tended to trend upwards, with the highest recorded traded price sitting at £2,254 during 2022.

On their website, Berry Bros and Rudd describe the Palmer 2014 as “one of the contestants for wine of the vintage… one of the only chateaux in 2014 to show this incredible level of complexity”, and a “tour de force in this vintage”.

Château Palmer 2014 (Margaux; 49% Cabernet Sauvignon; 45% Merlot; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 33 hl/ha; aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, just over 60% of which were new; pH 3.6; 13.5% alcohol). Lithe, limpid, aromatically complex and archetypally very redolent of its appellation in its delicate florality. Yet this is, in the context of the vintage, a rich and comparatively ample wine, with impressive depth, density and concentration. It is also at a beautiful stage in its evolution, with subtle sous bois, leather, tobacco leaf and walnut notes supporting the more prominent cedar and fresh dark berry fruits. There’s a touch of crushed black pepper and a pleasing salinity on the finish which is well-structured by the fine-grained slightly crumbly tannins. Plump and quite opulent with a long life ahead of it. 95.

Additional reporting on the release price by Arabella Mileham.

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