1996 Château Palmer, Margaux, Bordeaux

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Description

The sensuous, generous dollop of 40% Merlot that went into this makes it exquisite and beguiling. Warm, sweet red fruit with a hint of vanilla leads you to a plump, fleshy palate but elegant and sophisticated. It reminds us of a top Grand Cru Burgundy from a great year with purity and grace. Please don't be offended if you read words like "elegant" to mean thin and lacking flavour, as it can often mean in wine terms.

Quite the contrary, this is jam-packed and full of oomph, and the finish is 3 to 4 minutes long. If it is a small Christmas Day or New Year's Eve gathering this year for you (or you are an incredibly generous host/hostess and having the hordes in!) and you want something that will tick all the boxes (and some boxes you hadn't even known you had), you won't be disappointed, and you will certainly have a very happy Christmas.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

Colour Red

Sweetness Dry

Vintage 1996

Maturity Ready - at best (2009 - 2051)

Grape List Cabernet Sauvignon (55%), Merlot (40%), Cabernet Franc (4%), Petit Verdot (1%)

Body Full Bodied

Producer Château Palmer

Critics reviews

Neal Martin 91/100

Tasted at the Château Palmer vertical in London, the 1996 Château Palmer is a wine that never quite fulfilled its potential. There is satisfactory fruit intensity on the nose, blackberry and truffle, a touch of vanilla and violet developing with time in the glass. The palate still feels a little backward, but there is good grip and freshness. This is a harmonious 1996 Margaux and yet it feels conservative and straight-laced on the tobacco-infused finish. It is quite a serious Palmer, yet it does not quite back it up in terms of complexity or, for want of a better word, soul. Good...but you end up wanting more, especially having tasted the likes of 2000, 2005 and 2010 alongside. Tasted May 2015.

Neal Martin, Vinous.com (May 2016)

About this wine

Cabernet Sauvignon

The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.

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Margaux

If Pauillac is the bastion of ‘traditional’ Red Bordeaux, Margaux represents its other facet in producing wines that are some of the region’s most sensual and alluring. The largest commune in the Médoc, it encompasses the communes of Cantenac, Soussans, Arsac and Labaude, in addition to the village of Margaux itself. Its finest examples are paragons of refinement and subtlety which have few parallels in Bordeaux.

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Château Palmer

Château Palmer is a leading wine estate in Margaux. Within its appellation, Palmer is certainly the closest rival to its first growth neighbor, Ch. Margaux. Although officially ranked a Third Growth, at their best, the wines of Ch. Palmer are among the greatest anywhere in Bordeaux.

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Free delivery on orders over £200.
Wines and spirits purchased In Bond from Berry Bros. & Rudd can be stored in our temperature-controlled warehouse.
Every bottle sold by Berry Bros. & Rudd is subject to our quality guarantee. If a wine or spirit is corked or faulty, we will replace it.