Shay A

9.4

I’ve had a fair amount of either 5-7yr old PR or 20-30yr old PR, but never one in-between. I was pleasantly surprised how enjoyable this was, and seems to be drinking at peak (but certainly not fading, at least this example).

Pop and pour. Deep purple with no fading. Couldn’t believe how Bordeaux-esque this smelled! Wow. Kiss of brett to it, just enough to make it interesting. Brambly black fruits, leather, herbs de Provence, vanilla pipe tobacco too. Supremely well balanced on the palate…baked dark fruits in a dense but tantalizingly elegant profile. Integrated oak in the background. Sweet tannin on the finish. Followed over two days and stayed strong. If I could find more of these at a good price, I’d jump on them. — 2 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.2

2020 fall. Similar to other recent bottles. Really nice wine for a fair price - I’ll be looking for some more — 4 years ago

Byron Hewett

9.0

Big for a Burgundian Chardonnay. A fair amount of oak. I had this last November and thought it showed much better. — 5 years ago

Elizabeth Doris

9.8

W Ryan in Albuquerque- such a fun science fair!! — 2 years ago

Loren Gesinsky

9.1

Cork was soaked through and spongy on this 22-year old magnum, but the wine was still drinking nicely, with a fair amount of fruit still evident and balanced well with still active acidity, floral notes, secondary earthy notes, and well integrated tannins. — 3 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.1

You really can't give this one a very true rating right now. This bottle still has a lot of red fruited baby fat. After about 3 hours of air, it started to settle into more of a black cherry with hints of blackberry kind of a wine. But it definitely was not like that sooner. It is amazing how 15 years seems to be the dividing line and the characteristics change so much. It took a little coaxing. This one has a fair amount of herb influence. Also has some menthol or eucalyptus. Not sure that was there when I tried one of these even earlier. Overall, I make no apologies for opening this one now. It is still a very good wine. But when you know how these drink at 15 to 20 years, you know that it will continue to develop and change so much. Still a lot of stiff oak astringency at the moment. — 5 years ago

WC Fields

9.1

Always a solid bottle but in a double blind and bottle 8 of 8 it was never going to have a fair shake in the line up. Still showed why it’s great QPR. — 3 years ago

LM Segal

9.5

Not really fair to rate this now, so damned primary. Dark cassis and coarse cocoa, dark red fruit. Even after an hour not totally sorted but the quality burst through at the back of the palate where it lingered for >a minute. Would love to see this in 10 years. — 4 years ago

Ben Lehman

9.1

Tastes like Spring! YumPeach skin, limes and meyer lemon — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

It is really not fair to have their 06 after their 09. It’s good but, all you can think about is the 09.

The nose reveals, slightly stewed to cooked fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb and bright cherries. Steeped tea, limestone, licorice, dry crushed rocks, cedar, dry tobacco, soft, used leather, dry crushed rocks, dry stones, underbrush, dry stems, dry top soil, understated baking spices, light graphite, dry herbs, light, dark spice and withering red & dark florals.

The body is lean, not quite full. The structure, tension, length and and balance are just ok to good and reveal the shortcomings of the 06 vintage. slightly stewed to cooked fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb and bright cherries. Steeped tea, limestone, licorice, dry crushed rocks, cedar, dry tobacco, soft, used leather, dry crushed rocks, dry stones, underbrush, dry stems, dry top soil, understated baking spices, some v/a or bandaid, light graphite, dry herbs, light, dark spice with some heat across the palate and withering red & dark florals. The finish is nice and elegant but, lack the fullness and beauty of most really good vintage Palmer’s. It finishes with nice persistent dark spice on the long set. Just give me another taste of the 09. 😜

Photos of; Chateau Palmer, their barrel room, a photo of their vineyard soil structure-if you didn’t know where all that earthiness comes from, a picture is worth a thousand words and their tasting room. — 6 years ago