Chateau Palmer Alter Ego de Palmer 2014
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
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Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of spices and earth with mushrooms. Dark fruit. Full-bodied, dense and rich with earth and spices. A beauty. Soft and juicy. Savory yet exotic. From biodynamically grown grapes. First year. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This second wine of Château Palmer is dense and structured. With ripe swathes of black fruits and juicy Merlot showing strongly, it already displays the potential of the vintage. Generous and ripe, the wine has a fine level of perfumed tannin. Drink from 2023.
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Wine Spectator
Bursts with violet, plum and raspberry fruit, lined with silky tannins and backed by a tantalizing iron hint. Features lovely brisk energy and gorgeous purity. Barrel Sample: 90-93
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
It has an opulent, glossy bouquet with layers of small dark cherries and plenty of glycerin. The palate is more reserved than the bouquet suggests: saturated tannins, a little chewiness on the entry but suppler towards the finish. It feels very linear in keeping with the style of the vintage, the finish a little sweet than its peers with a dab of licorice on the aftertaste. Barrel Sample: 90-92
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Decanter
Beautiful perfume and polished flavours. Velvety-smooth, delicate tannins and a hidden depth that will build up in barrel white retaining freshness, length and purity. Rating: 90+
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2014 Palmer Alter Ego checks in as a blend of 52% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot. It offers classic notes of ripe black cherries, licorice, leafy herbs and chocolate in a medium-bodied, rounded, mouthfilling style. It has bright acidity and present tannins, and will keep for 15+ years.
Other Vintages
2022-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
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Parker
Robert
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Suckling
James - Vinous
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
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Suckling
James - Decanter
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Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
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Suckling
James - Vinous
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Dunnuck
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Spectator
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Dunnuck
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Robert
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James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
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Robert - Decanter
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Spectator
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
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Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
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Wong
Wilfred -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
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Parker
Robert
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Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
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Spectator
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Enthusiast
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Wine
Charles Palmer devoted a great deal of time, energy, and money to developing his property. The Major General lived mainly in England, and so the estate was managed by his authorized representative, Mr Grey, who helped to increase the wine's reputation among wealthy connoisseurs.
In June 1853, the brothers Isaac and Emile Péreire, famous bankers and rivals of the Rothschilds, bought Palmer and began investing in the estate immediately. However, there was not enough time to bring Chateau Palmer up to first growth status in time for the famous 1855 classification. It was thus ranked a Third Growth, although it is widely recognized as among the greatest wines of Bordeaux.
Several families of Bordeaux, English, and Dutch extraction all involved in the wine trade, united to buy Palmer in 1938 and have worked hard to give the estate its present reputation. These families have always given priority to quality, despite the financial risk this entailed. They have unfailingly applied the principles that have made the great wines of Bordeaux so successful: authenticity, quality, and permanence.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Silky, seductive and polished are the words that characterize the best wines from Margaux, the most inland appellation of the Médoc on the Left Bank of Bordeaux.
Margaux’s gravel soils are the thinnest of the Médoc, making them most penetrable by vine roots—some reaching down over 23 feet for water. The best sites are said to be on gentle outcrops, or croupes, where more gravel facilitates good drainage.
The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area. In 1855 the finest chateaux were deemed on the basis of reputation and trading price—at that time. In 1855, Chateau Margaux achieved first growth status, yet it has been Chateau Palmer (officially third growth from the 1855 classification) that has consistently outperformed others throughout the 20th century.
Chateau Margaux in top vintages is capable of producing red Cabernet Sauvignon based wines described as pure, intense, spell-binding, refined and profound with flavors and aromas of black currant, violets, roses, orange peel, black tea and incense.
Other top producers worthy of noting include Chateau Rauzan-Ségla, Lascombes, Brane-Cantenac, and d’Issan, among others.
The best wines of Margaux combine a deep ruby color with a polished structure, concentration and an unrivaled elegance.