Margaux vs. Palmer Dinner, served in single blind flights

Primehouse - Chicago IL
Tasted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by Burgundy Al with 949 views

Introduction

Over the past few years I have met Bernard de Laage of Palmer several times at dinners and tastings around the country. So I invited him to dinner the next time he would be in Chicago. The plan was for a version of a Chateau Palmer and Chateau Margaux dinner modeled on how my Chicago Burgundy group structures our dinners. For the most parts flights are single blind - you know what's in the 4 glasses in front of you, just not which glass is which.

We ended up with a change several weeks before the dinner. Bernard was unable to join us, but we were joined by Thomas Duroux, Palmer's CEO and former Ornellaia winemaker. Thomas was a wonderful guest, and my entire group learned a great deal. And of course drank some great wine.

A great experience for everybody, humbling for most of us, myself included.

Flight 1 - Champagne (2 Notes)

  • 1990 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 91 Points

    France, Champagne

    Clear bready/yeasty character that I expect from this wine. Intense fruit flavors on the start, nice citrus element on the finish. Bit of butterscotch on nose and finish. I strongly preferred the 1996 but that's as much my preference for fresher, younger Champagne than any reflection on this 1990.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1996 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    Great fruit on nose with some good floral charm. Flavor emphasizes lemon, orange and some roasted nuts. Excellent texture. I prefer younger, leaner Champagne so often find Bollinger a bit mature tasting for my palate, but I think this 1996 is exceptional and probably at its peak for my preferences. I greatly preferred this to the 1990 tonight.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 2 - 66 Palmer on its own (1 Note)

Not served blind. Alas, none of us had a 66 Margaux in our respective cellars.

  • 1966 Château Palmer 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Bottle with good fill. Nose of cedar, black cherry dried herbs and and some smoky elements. Black cherry on palate with very elegant spice and good spice that comes through most clearly on the finish. Very good acidity helps provide extra complexity and length to the finish.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 3 - 82/83 (4 Notes)

  • 1982 Château Margaux 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 82/83 Margaux/Palmer flight. Tasting single blind can result in both honesty and embarrassment. That is the case here where this wine was my least favorite amongst the 82s and 83s from Margaux and Palmer. Nose of black fruit, same on palate. Dense and concentrated with little nuance today. Still very primary. With hindsight I realize this showed very good fruit but showcased strength and power rather than the silkiness and elegance I prefer.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1982 Château Palmer 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 82/83 Margaux/Palmer. Nose of dark cherry and spice, still mostly primary. Blackberry and black currant on palate, long with very good tannins and acidity in balance with fruit. Finish starting to show hints of forest floor. Getting close to its peak.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1983 Château Palmer 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind flight 82/83 Margaux/Palmer. Great color, looks so young. Blackberry, spice, tobacco aromatics with hits of leather. Black sexy fruit with great texture. Flavors kept evolving in the glass through the flight. Great balance. Lots of great life ahead of it.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1983 Château Margaux 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 82/83 Margaux/Palmer flight. Big and powerful fruit on nose, then continuing on to the palate. Anise and spice aromatics as well. Rich flavors shows both red and black fruit, which gave this great complexity for me. I liked this wine better than most people tonight, some of whom thought it more lean than some of the others in the flight that were showing blacker, darker fruit.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 4 - 86 (2 Notes)

  • 1986 Château Palmer 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 86 Margaux and Palmer flight. Big fruit on both nose and palate, but very silky and nicely textured. Great floral aspect as well. Solid tannic structure in middle, transitioning into a more lacy, spicy wine on finish. This wine probably exceeded expectations more than any other tonight.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1986 Château Margaux 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 86 Margaux and Palmer flight. Big fruit on nose and palate, but with the fruit partly hidden behind massive tannins for now. Dense and concentrated, this was more interesting than fun and certainly will need at least another decade before it really hits its stride.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 5 - 89/90 (4 Notes)

  • 1989 Château Margaux 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 89/90 Margaux/Palmer flight. Both primary and secondary character on the nose with good spice as well. Rich black fruit on palate with a reasonable degree of development. Tannins well integrated, still lots of acidity providing energy.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1990 Château Palmer 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 89/90 Margaux/Palmer flight. Big black fruit with some good smoky and spicy aromatics. Same fruit profile on the palate, just a bit simpler than many of the other wines tonight. Good balance. This wine will last for many, many years but I don't expect it will turn into something much better than it is at present.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1989 Château Palmer

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 89/90 Margaux/Palmer flight. I don't know if this bottle was slightly flawed but it was not what most of us epxected. Palmer CEO Thomas Duroux couldn't select it in this flight,so I'm guessing there was a problem. Medium red fruit with spice hints on the nose. Blacker fruit on palate but somewhat muted and drying on finish. I would have rated this 89 or 90 points. Others liked it quite a bit more, others much less.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1990 Château Margaux 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 89/90 Margaux/Palmer flight. Aromatics start with wild strawberry and floral tones, then open up to darker fruit and lots of spice. Drak fruit continues onto the palate with great spice. Completely balanced, everything worked in harmony. Long spicy finish. My WOTN, consensus WOTN.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 6 - 95/99 (4 Notes)

For whatever reasons notes got shorter and tougher to understand.

  • 1999 Château Palmer 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 95/99 Margaux/Palmer flight. Black fruit and blast of spice on the nose. Lots of black fruit on palate, presently framed nicely by some noticeable oak, but getting close to refined integration. Good fruit, espresso and spice on long finish.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1995 Château Palmer 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 95/99 Margaux/Palmer flight. Red fruit and spice on nose. Lingering signs of oak. Good black fruit on palate, but showing a bit rustic today.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1995 Château Margaux 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 95/99 Margaux/Palmer flight. big and burly wine on the nose. Same fruit on the palate with fair amount of tannic structure. hold for a while.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1999 Château Margaux 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Single blind 95/99 Margaux/Palmer flight. Very pretty nose shows red and black cherry and lots of spice. Great fruit on palate, also with great spice, but wine needs probably 5 more years to get better integrated.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 7 - Bonus (1 Note)

Might have been interesting if we also poured a 2004 Palmer in the next glass, but M. Duroux felt 2004 Palmer wouldn't show properly today when compared.

  • NV Château Palmer Historical XIXth Century Blend L.20.04. 90 Points

    France, Vin de Table Français

    Bonus wine provided by M. Duroux, served blind. Black and blue fruit aromatics with lots of extract and texture. Certainly very mouth coating and appealing, it was an easy wine to enjoy. Obviously the Syrah component (15% from an unnamed source in Hermitage if my memory serves me well) adds an unusual aspect to this wine, but I found that extra twist to be more interesting and fun vs. pleasurable in a way that I'd want to buy the wine. Others liked this wine more than I did.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Closing

We finished with some good bottles of Port that I didn't write down and don't remember, other than that they were good.

×
×