Another in the Morgan Does Bordeaux series.

When I woke up early on Tuesday morning, after the storms had knocked out the power and the alarm, I had a wave of fear run through me. Was I going to be too late for my appointment to Chateau Palmer? Luckily, I heard Antoine stirring in the kitchen, meaning that it had to be before 8 o’clock. My appointment was for 10 o’clock in Margaux. Nonetheless, I was a little stressed out for some reason.

(the square at Lynch-Bages after a rainy night)

While leaving I received a call from Antoine wondering if I could drive to Graves, south of Bordeaux, to pick up some samples for analysis from the company oenologist, Daniel Llose, at Villa Bel-Air. Of course, I began my drive as I was talking on the phone, something I did not consider to be a major problem. This, however, was not the view taking by the policeman who pulled me over and fleeced me of 22 euros for talking on the phone while driving. I wish I could send him to southern California. The day was off to a brilliant start.

The remainder of the drive to Margaux I had to pull over to the side of the road twice while receiving calls from Nicolas and Antoine again. The second time I nearly parked the Citroen in a ditch. Happily, I made it safely into the driveway of Chateau Palmer with five minutes to spare.

Chateau Palmer is one of the chateau that deserve first growth status. At the least, it is a “super-second;� it is certainly well above its third growth demarcation. The current ownership is composed of people from three nationalities, and three flags fly high over the turrets and towers of the bucolic castle. Going into the visit I knew these three things. 1) the few Chateau Palmer’s I had in my life were absolutely stellar, 2) the chateau has a reputation for being the most Margaux-like of the Margaux chateau, and 3) the wines tends to be plusher and more finessed than others because of the high percentage of Merlot in the wines.

I certainly did not know that I would be shown around by the director of the chateau, Philippe Delfaut. An energetic man, M. Delfaut is clearly keen on preserving the historical legacy of Palmer while also keeping the estate relevant to modern tasters. In the incredibly generous hour and a half that he spent with me we went through all facets of the fermentation process and tasted a few wines to boot.

Like Ch. Rauzan-Segla yesterday, the chateau takes every step to ensure quality. Unlike Rauzan-Segla, atleast the 1998 and 2001 I tried, one can truly taste the results.
The fruit is brought into the vineyard in 8 kg bins. Each is poured onto an initial triage tray where leaves, unripe clusters, and pourriture are taking out. The fruit is then destemmed onto another, slightly lower triage tray, where the individual berries undergo an additional triage to ensure ideal fruit. From there the berries are put through a gentle, rubber crusher that breaks down the fruit a little bit more. After each parcel is finished, the hoses are cleared with compressed air.

Fermentation and maceration takes place in small, double-decker stainless steel cuves (French for tank). The tanks are actually larger tanks that have been converted into two small, stacked fermenters. As Philippe pointed out, the estate harvest 60 different parcels, so having 50 different small tanks allows them to vinify each lot separately. During the alcoholic fermentation, which takes place in about 10 days, gentle (I believe by this he means short) remontage (pumpovers) are done three times a day. On a digression here, but for the benefit of the Ravenswood winemaking team, punching down, or pigeage, is considered to be too harsh and extractive, though their pigeage is typically automated with two punches working in a circular motion. Philippe made sure to emphasize that the temperatures for the fermentations are kept at a “relatively cool� 28-30 degrees C. Post-fermentation maceration is relatively short here—only about nine days on the skins for the Merlot and 9-12 for the Cabernet.

The wines are pressed using either a typical Diemme bladder press, or a modern style, computer controlled basket press. Philippe finds that the basket press limits the extraction of harsh phenolics, while he finds the bladder presses turning motion lends itself to bitter tannin extraction. Whether this is actually true I do not know—both types of presses can be set to less or more extractive modes. Some of the most bitter juice I had while in Australia were the last pressings of a modern basket-press. In any case, his argument about avoiding bitterness and tannin corresponded with the philosophy of vinification here that he repeated several times. Palmer, he says, is more about elegance and aromatics than tannic power. I believe that the same can be said about Margaux more generally.

This philosophy also plays out in oak selection and use. In the strongest, most powerful years, Palmer uses 60% new oak. In lesser years it ranges from 40-50%. In my experience, this number is quite low for classed growths of this caliber. Lynch-Bages uses 70%, Mouton, Lafite, and Latour are generally 100% new. Of course, the muscular style of Pauillac can perhaps support this much oak more adeptly than a Margaux. The cooperage selection is typical. The majority of the oak is medium toast Boutes and Nadalier, with some Radoux, Seguin-Moreou, and the Bordeaux cooperage of World Coop thrown in. The barrels from the latter cooper, whose name I cannot remember right now, are actually toasted to the standards for white Burgundy and are constructed of Nevers forest wood (typically tighter grain than Troncois, Vosges, or Limousin). Stephan says he loves these barrels for their addition of aromatic brightness compared to some others, like Radoux, which have toastier and more tannic profiles.

While sitting in the first year barrel storage we also talked about the role of technology. Unlike some traditional cellars, Palmer uses silicone bungs rather than the cloth wrapped wood bungs. Philippe sites their sanitary qualities, the ease of sampling, and the ease of additions when the barrels are actually upright and have a silicone bung. I also asked him about micro-ox. Whereas at Rauzan Segla, where the guide told me that no micro-ox was used as I stared at micro-ox lines, Philippe says that he thinks microburballage (essentially micro-ox in barrel) is something that he would use in the case of hard, green lots that need a little plushing up. He added to this though that recent years had been so warm that there was really no need for its use. Like other directors of great chateau, Philippe makes sure to point out that great growths lie on privileged sites that allow ripeness and great depth of flavor even in vintages where other chateau struggle.

The two wines of Palmer—the namesake wine and Alter-Ego de Palmer—are made in slightly different fashions. Philippe points out that he does not compare Alter-Ego to a proper “second wine� in the fashion of Carruades de Lafite, or Les Forts de Latour. Rather, Alter Ego is fashioned to be a more modern wine—more initially explosive with fruit, featuring less oak, to be enjoyed more quickly. The parcels for each are selected in the vineyard based on flavor and phenolic profile, and then vinified differently to yield different levels of extraction and freshness of fruit. Whereas Palmer sees 21 months in barrel, Alter-Ego sees 18 months at 25-30% new. I am sure that if I talked to the directors of Margaux, Lafite, Mouton, or Lynch-Bages they would all say the same thing about their second wine—that it is meant for a different purpose. I think the main difference at Palmer is that the lots are actually vinified differently based on vineyard for the second wine, while other chateau’s second wine is typically composed of an amalgam of lots that simply were not good enough to make the premier cuvee.
After walking through the remainder of the grand cellars, talking about the number of employees (there are only five full-time employees in the cellar and 20 in the 50 ha of vineyards), we got to the tasting.

We started off with the elegant, classic 2001 vintage. Like other 2001’s I have tasted, the wine was beautifully balance, with classic Margaux violet, cassis, and mint. Though well-structured, the wine was a midweight knockout—a Sugar Ray Leonard wine. I have found this to be the case with most of the 2001’s that I have tried. They are “classic� claret, well-balanced and demanding a few years of cellar-time, but not epic wines. In some ways, I prefer this type of vintage because the wines seem less excessive and more rooted in place. That said, I will now wax poetic about the massive and wonderful 2005’s.

The Alter Ego of 2005 has explosive cassis, strawberry, tobacco, and minerals (like cendre, carbon cinders, says Philippe). It is as close to a fruit bomb as Medoc gets but is delicious, with great persistence, despite its more modern profile.

As great as the Alter-Ego was (and for the price is probably the better deal), the 2005 Palmer simply swept me off of my feet. Way too young right now, the wine still features a wave of really sweet, sumptuous fruit that is balanced perfectly against fine tannincs and incredibly acidity. The pH for the wine is 3.74, with 3.4 g/l of acidity sulfuric. The wine, the first to break 13% at Palmer since the 1995 is a whopping 14.3% alcohol. I believe that old-school Bordeaux drinkers may fine this wine a bit too alcoholic, but as one who is used to bracing against the force of California sunshine, the wine seemed fine to me.

All in all, an amazing visit, that featured the best young wines that I have tasted so far in my travels across this broad gravel bed.

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