2015 Château Palmer
Community Tasting Note
Cailles wrote:
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 - Margaux Extravaganza: Margaux vs. Palmer vs. Brane over two decades (1996/2009/2015). Given the pedigree of the vintages, particularly for Chateau Margaux, expectations were quite high, but especially the last two vintages didn't live up to past performances (I've previously rated Ch. Margaux up to 100pts, Ch. Margaux 2015 up to 99pts, and Palmer 2009 98pts) at first. There were some overripe aromas that were too prominent and an uncharacteristic imbalance. Of course, Ch. Margaux and Palmer showed remarkable complexity and precision, but the balance was a bit off. Still, these are some good to great wines, especially on day 2 and with more air they got better and better. Ultimately, Ch. Margaux 2015 (96pts) was the winner with its unique aromatic profile, slightly outperforming the 1996 and 2009 vintages, both at 95pts. Brane and Palmer were a notch or two below, with the Palmer 2015 particularly affected by premature oxidation. I don't doubt the potential of these wines, given the many fine examples I had last year, but I wouldn't open them today.
TN: I’m quite skeptical of recent Palmer vintages as I often found them very Napa-esque and this 2015 was no exception. Very spicy, loads of oak and very ripe, too ripe fruit. In addition, there were some oxidation notes tainting the picture further. This was not a very good wine, although there is a lot going on. I hope this was not a representative bottle (a bottle 4 years ago showed (too) Napa-esque but flawless).
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