Château Palmer vertical

A vertical tasting of Château Palmer at Burg Layen. This was on one of the very first warm days in spring, so we went into the cool cellar after a nice day outside. The Palmers were all fabulous, with some nice surprises.

The Palmers.

The tasting consisted of twelve vintages of Palmer including 83, 89 and 05.

• 1979 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Acidity very present, forest floor, red fruit seemingly on the retreat, slightly thin but really very pleasant. Drink up. (89 pts.)
• 1980 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  A nice surprise, I hate to admit but I continue to like the 1980 Bordeaux ... Obviously a bit thin and watery, but fresh, simple, nice acidity and with an attractive finish. A nice wine to be had a glass of on the terrace before dinner. Obviously prices of the 1980 Palmer, Haut Brion etc. are not in line with the idea of a nice summer wine! (87 pts.)
• 1982 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Very elegant, silky, earthy, tobacco, and a very nice sweetness. This is really good, even though I remember it to be even better. May be time to drink up these 1982s. (94 pts.)
• 1983 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  The bouquet is still spectacular with malt, coffee, truffles. On the palate sweet chocolate, underwood, coffee. A real beauty. (96 pts.)
• 1985 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Green bouquet of bell pepper, truffles. On the palate all harmony with berries, sweet chocolate. A real beauty. (92 pts.)
• 1989 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  From magnum. Even better than I remembered it. Nose of leather, truffles. Very elegant palate with coffee, roasted nuts, dark cherries, sweet tannins. Great. (95 pts.)
• 1990 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Very elegant bouquet. On the palate nice and elegant and balanced but slightly thinner than the 1989. (94 pts.)
• 1992 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  This is a green underripe wine that is really out of balance. Compared to how successfully this estate managed tough conditions in 1991, this is a failure. (86 pts.)
• 1999 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Quite tannic and dry on the palate, little fruit. The tannins suggest that this will take forever to integrate and come into balance - if ever. Not a great success. On the other hand, when tasting through it, all the ingredients seem to be there. (90 pts.)
• 2001 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Nose of malt, cherries. On the palate cedar, vanilla, blackberries. Tastes quite young, maybe a tad too rustic for my liking. (92 pts.)
• 2005 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Fat, sappy, creamy texture, sweet fruit, silky tannins. Vanilla, cedar, wood and incredibly concentrated. In need of further cellaring. (96 pts.)
• 2008 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Very charming, very classic, very elegant. Cool bouquet of cold cigar, red fruit. (94 pts.)

Sampling the 2013ers in the cellar.

We tried the yet unfiltered 2013 off-dry from Goldloch. It seems that at least at this estate 2013 has brought out quite some acidity, resulting in nicely balanced off-dry wines.

• 2013 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Nahe
  Barrel sample. A very fresh and light cabinet. Snappy acidity, balanced off by filigreed sweetness, some grapefruit. Very light on its feet, a great drink. (92 pts.)
• 2013 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
  Barrel sample. Like the Kabinett that preceded it, a wonderful balanced, light and elegant off-dry interpretation of this great terroir in a year that seems to have brought out pretty acidic grapes. I really liked the interplay between the salty flint, the grapefruit and the sweetness. Let's see how this does after bottling. (91 pts.)

Some more wine with dinner ...

• 2008 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Nahe
  Peach, some lime, tangerine (this must have some residual sweetness?), flint and nice over-arching minerality. (92 pts.)
• 2012 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Nahe
  Crisp an fresh. Peach, pear, and a salty core of flint. Really quite good. (91 pts.)
• 2009 Domaine Jacques Prieur Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
  From magnum. A nice Gevrey 1er that performs very well with food. Cool and restrained floral bouquet. Sappy on the palate with red fruit. (91 pts.)
• 2011 Schlossgut Diel Scheurebe Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
  A beautiful Scheurebe with elderflower, cassis. Peach, passion fruit, lime. (89 pts.)
• 1985 Niepoort Porto Colheita - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  A very nice bottle of port with sweet fruitcake, plum, herbs, incense. (93 pts.)

Made it home safely.