Château Palmer - Margaux 2015

Wine Advocate

97 / 100

byNeal Martinthe3/2/2018

The 2015 Palmer is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot with around 14.1% alcohol, a little higher than usual. It is much more backward on the nose than the Alter Ego and demanded coaxing from the glass, eventually revealing scents of blackberry, cassis, boysenberry, crushed stone and a touch of vanilla pod, beautifully defined with a brooding sense of power. I suspect that this will be no shy and retiring violet when it reaches full maturity. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins that caress the mouth on the entry, and it is a voluminous Palmer, not heavy but multifaceted. Black fruits are laced with oyster shell, hints of allspice and crushed stone, delivering a crescendo toward an intense finish that this château has specialized in under winemaker Thomas Duroux. It will require at least a decade in bottle, but I probably agree with the estate that it will last many decades. Superb...but only for the patient. Anticipated maturity: 2025 - 2065. 

Vinous

97 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe2/27/2018

The 2015 Palmer is a wine of total refinement and class. All the elements are wonderfully meshed together, as they always have been from the very start. Dark black cherry, plum, mocha, licorice, spice and leather notes are all seamless in the glass. The tannins are present, but they are silky and pretty much buried by the sheer luxuriousness of the fruit. Palmer is one of the most complete and harmonious wines of 2015. This is a brilliant effort from Thomas Duroux and his team.

Wine Advocate

98 / 100

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe2/22/2018

Bottled relatively late in mid-September 2017, the 2015 Palmer is a blend of 44% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon with a small portion of Petit Verdot. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it offers vibrant red currants, black cherries, wild blueberries, earth and mineral characteristics to begin, with slowly unfurling floral notes of violets and dried roses plus compelling baker’s chocolate and fragrant earth layers. Medium to full-bodied, generously fruited and possessing firm yet very, very fine-grained, mind-blowingly ripe tannins, the multifaceted palate features something of a skip in its step in terms of freshness, while it goes beguilingly earthy on the finish with some mineral hints. Very classy, elegant and sophisticated, this vintage is downright regal in its juxtaposition between poise and audaciousness. Think 2005 Palmer with a tick more fruit intensity, perfume and passion.

Wine Spectator

96 / 100

byJames Molesworththe2/15/2018

This is dark and muscular in style, brimming with bramble, warm tar and paving stone notes that are matched by the deep layers of fig, blackberry and cassis fruit. A gorgeous bittersweet chocolate detail adds spine to the finish while violet and iron elements lurk in reserve. Another large wave of fruit and dark earth courses through the finish. Best from 2025 through 2045.   –JM

Jamessuckling.com

100 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe2/12/2018

I am breathless with the dark-berry, lavender and burnt-orange aromas. Some salt. Just so formidable and deep. Stunningly sexy on the palate with a density and power, yet it leaves things so clean and bright. You want to drink it and enjoy it now, but it has the structure to last forever. Drink in 2022.

Decanter.com

97 / 100

byJane Ansonthe1/26/2018

There is a real consistency and signature of expression between the Palmer and the Alter Ego this year. It's hard not to be seduced by the exuberance of the vintage once the wine has opened up, but it is extremely well measured. It takes just a moment in the glass before the aromatics start to take off, and a minute more before the flesh gets laid on the bones, layer after layer, from savoury liquorice root to fleshy blackberry and cassis, shot through with a whiff of gunsmoke and a saline twist on the finish. A careful focus on phenolic maturity in the vineyards ensures a depth to the texture and a sense of outwards expansion through the palate. In terms of production, there is a 50/50 split between the two wines. Extremely precise, a beautifully accomplished wine.

Jeb DUNNUCK

98 / 100

byJeb Dunnuckthe11/30/2017

Vinifera

5 / 5

the5/31/2016

Je cherche dans mes souvenirs : hormis le Palmer 2010, je n’ai pas le souvenir, dans les millésimes récents, d’avoir dégusté un aussi beau Palmer. C’est un vin d’une grande plénitude, charnu, mûr et enveloppant, avec un côté crémeux absolument ébouriffant. Un très grand vin d’hédonisme dans un millésime qui en compte certes un certain nombre, mais qui prend place parmi les plus magiques.

The Wine Cellar Insider

97-98 / 100

byJeff Levethe4/30/2016

Rich in color, the attention-seeking nose pops with truffle, tobacco, black cherries, cigar box, plum and cocoa. Silk and velvet textures with polished tannins, juicy, sweet, fresh, pure plums and a finish that builds as it lingers. This sublime wine was produced from a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, reaching 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.85. Currently being aged in 65% new French oak barrels, the wine represents 50% of the harvest, which took place between September 22 and October 7. The second year produced using only 100% biodynamic farming techniques has created one of the great vintages for Palmer of all time!

Wine Advocate

95-97 / 100

byNeal Martinthe4/29/2016

The 2015 Palmer is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot matured into up to 70% new oak. The official start of the picking was 22 September, finishing on the 7 October with the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Sauvignon. This has a wonderful bouquet with layers of dark cherry, boysenberry, a faint hint of dark chocolate and minerals. There is superb delineation here. The palate is medium-bodied, but this constitutes a decidedly more structured Palmer than I have encountered in recent years, perhaps a little more masculine due to the slightly higher Cabernet content. This is a classic Palmer made by winemaker Thomas Duroux, symmetrical in some way, poised and effortless on the finish. Those who like the more showy Palmer might not warm to this 2015, but this has real class and sophistication, a Palmer that will repay those with the nous to cellar it for 10-15 years. Expect it to reside at the top of my banded score.

Bettane & Desseauve

18,5-19 / 20

the4/28/2016

Admirable velouté de texture, beaucoup de concentration aromatique, long, raffiné. Bref, ce que l’on attend.

Vinous

94-97 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe4/27/2016

A dark, voluptuous beauty, the 2015 Palmer is just as beautiful today as it was from barrel a few months ago. Mocha, plum, black cherry, tobacco and cedar are fused together in an effortless, racy Margaux endowed with real pedigree. Sweet tannins round out the plush, seamless finish, but they are there. This is a hugely promising Palmer. The blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot.

Decanter.com

96 / 100

bySteven Spurrierthe4/27/2016

Superb bouquet of black fruits with dry spice, tobacco and liquorice. Densely textured palate with incredible backbone: ‘2015 has all the charm we had in 2009 but more precision to make a serious wine without being severe,’ says CEO Thomas Duroux.2022-2045

Jean-Marc QUARIN

18 / 20

byJean-Marc Quarinthe4/20/2016

Couleur sombre, intense, pourpre et belle. Nez profond au fruité pur. Dense dés l'attaque, fondant au développement, plein, le vin évolue juteux, moelleux, savoureux et profond, avec beaucoup de gourmandise. Belle longueur finement tramée. Un délice. Assemblage : 50 % cabernet sauvignon, 44 % merlot, 6 % petit verdot. Degré d'alcool : 14° - pH : 3,85 – IPT : 79.

timatkin.com

94 / 100

byTim Atkin MWthe4/20/2016

Wine Enthusiast

97-99 / 100

byRoger Vossthe4/15/2016

Barrel Sample. This wine is structured and extraordinarily dense. Powerful tannins and a hint of chocolate from extraction give the wine concentration. The richness of the wine is right there, just suggesting alcohol. There is freshness at the end that brings a final, delicious lift. 98 points

Jancis Robinson

18 /

byJancis Robinsonthe4/15/2016

44% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot. Picked 22 September to 7 October. A really massive step above Alter Ego on the nose. Really fresh and polished. Lovely bramble fruit. Not that dense but really complete and beautifully balanced. Silky tannins. Real drive and lift towards the end. Very Margaux. 14.1% Drink 2023-2040

René Gabriel

20 / 20

the4/10/2016

50 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 44 % Merlot, 6 % Petit Verdot. 37 hl/ha. Extrem dunkles Purpur mit lila und violetten Reflexen. Extrem würzig, viel schwarzer Pfeffer, Trüffelanklänge, Cassis, Brombeeren, grosses Nasenkino, schon zu diesem Zeitpunkt. Im Gaumen samtig, anmutig, runde, schier schon schmeichelnde Tannine aufweisend, viel Lakritze und Maulbeeren im langen, erhabenen, aromatischen Finale. Das Palmer-Team vergleicht diesen Jahrgang mit einer Mischung aus 2005, 2009 und 2010. Für mich ist das ganz einfach ein riesengrosser Palmer. Nicht spektakulär, sondern beruhigend. Auf extrem hohen Niveau. Margaux-Nonchalance. Als ich anfing Primeurweine zu verkosten, schien mir der Palmer beim Jahrgang 1985 um eine Nuance besser als der Château Margaux. Das Gefühl hatte ich heuer – nach 30 Jahren – auch wieder! Und irgendwo fand ich beim 2015er auch gewisse geschmackliche Parallelen zum 2005er und 1985er… Es ist der absolut beste Margaux der Appellation. 20/20 2022 – 2048

Jamessuckling.com

99-100 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/5/2016

A wine with incredible character and style with black ink and blueberry aromas and flavors. Full body, extremely fresh and structured with riffing tannins. It is muscular and powerful. White pepper, sea salt, mineral, stone character. A wine built for the long term. The making of the new 1961.