Tasting Notes and Scores
This is mind-blowing with complex and superb aromas of dried flowers, blackcurrants and raspberries. Full-bodied, yet polished and velvety with lots of tension and intensity. Layers of fruit and character. Finishes with pure fruit, hazelnuts and minerals. About 20 hectares of 55 hectares were from biodynamically grown grapes. Try in 2022. Stunning. – jamessuckling.com, Feb 2015
James Suckling
Château Palmer is one of the vintage’s superstars. Opaque purple, with a gorgeous nose of blueberry, blackberry fruit, licorice, incense and graphite, the wine has a multi-dimensional, skyscraper-like richness, stunningly well-integrated acidity, tannin, wood, and alcohol, a finish of close to 45 seconds and a full-bodied mouthfeel. This is a great wine from Margaux in 2012 and one of the vintage’s most remarkable efforts. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2040+. The final blend was 48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot. 96 points – Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #218, April 2015)
Wine Advocate
The annual release of 10 year old Château Palmer, and this time it's an often-underrated but delicious vintage that sits in the shadow of the most prestigious years of the last decade. Proof of how slowly this wine ages, it is packed with blueberry and cassis fruits, a shot of mint leaf, mandarin peel, sage and dark chocolate, with shoulders and a serious architecture, bigger than you might expect for a vintage with such an easy-drinking, gourmet reputation. I last tasted this vintage around eight months ago and it has opened up further since then, often the case as wines shift around the decade mark, and this is an upscore. A moment when Palmer was fully committing to farming biodynamically, doubling its coverage to almost 15 hectares, and had just unveiled a new cellar. Harvest October 1 to 15, Sabrina Pernet technical director, Thomas Duroux director. 68% new oak. No rush to drink, and has many decades ahead, but you can begin thinking about it. Drink 2023 - 2042
Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux - Tasted July 2022
Decanter
Silky, sensuous and earthy, the wine is elegant, polished and long, leaving you with sweet, ripe, fresh blackberries and plums that expand and gain in complexity as they sit on your palate. Tasted May 2015
Jeff Leve
The 2012 Palmer showed beautifully, with the elegance and purity this cuvée is known for front and center. Offering lots of crème de cassis, licorice, smoked earth and a hint of spring flowers, it has medium to full-bodied richness, a balanced, graceful texture, plenty of tannin, and a great finish. This is one of those wines that grows on you with time in the glass and is going to evolve gracefully on its purity and balance.
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2012 Palmer is silky, voluptuous and beautifully layered in the glass. Black cherry, plum, mocha, bittersweet chocolate and dark spices flesh out in a decidedly opulent, racy Palmer built on pure texture. Silky, tannins round out the polished, suave finish. The 2012s at Palmer are made from unusually low yields of around 28 hectoliters per hectare. One of the effects of the 2011 hailstorm that hit the estate was a lowering of the following year's crop, which has resulted in rich, tannic wines. Estate Manager Thomas Duroux opted to give the 2012s more time in barrel than is customary and the wines were bottled in September 2014. Jan 2016
Antonio Galloni
(48% Merlot/46% Cabernet Sauvignon/6% Petit Verdot)
Nose is very tight. Palate is explosively juicy and yet stylish, polished and bright, with vibrancy and character. Real perfume from the Petit Verdot sets this apart from most other '12s we have tasted. Finish is long. Excellent.
Bordeaux Index
Quality 918 | Brand 994 | Economics 854 |
buzz brand, investment staple
Quality: Predicted life of 13 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 2012 vintage, which averages 9 years
Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 43 of the world's top wine lists, including De Librije
Economics: Above its peer group average price of £43 for the 2012 vintage
Production: Lower production than its peer group average of 112,956 bottles
- www.wine-lister.com June 2017
Wine Lister
Offers a lovely velvety feel, with plum sauce, red currant paste and lilac notes melded together. Subtle but persistent toast accents everything, with an inlaid iron hint hanging in the background. Shows range, weight and length, with all the elements draping nicely on the finish. Approachable now, exhibiting good mouthfeel, but this could benefit from time in the cellar. Best from 2017 through 2025. 7,500 cases made. – James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, March 2015)
Wine Spectator
[48M/46CS/6PV] (28hl/ha; % harvest; 13.7%; 70% new) A lovely black fruit aroma; a powerful, concentrated expression of Margaux: rich intense, firmly but finely tannic and with great vitality from the Cabernet Sauvignon; very long to develop, a surging fruit presence and great perfumed length. The firm tannins on the finish indicate this as a fairly long term wine, but this is a great Palmer. Drink 2024-35+.
-M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2013
Michael Schuster
Tasted from a barrel sample at en primeur. The Palmer was picked between 1st and 15th October at just 28hl/ha because of the previous vintage since the vines had been pruned back to four buds per vine. A blend of 48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot, the Grand Vin is very opulent on the nose for the vintage, the merlot much more expressive than the Cabernet with nascent scents of crushed violet. The palate is medium-bodied with thick juicy tannins, a crisp citric line of acidity and a sense of weight and solidity on the tightly-coiled finish. This Palmer will probably need several years bottle age. Certainly a very good grip on the finish with a marine like aftertaste. – eRobertParker.com, May 2013
Neal Martin
Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Black cherry nose – almost stereotypically modern winemaking. Very, very sweet and syrupy. Some will love this dramatic wine. There is a little undertow of greenness but no shortage of drama. An extreme wine. Drink 2020-2032 – jancisrobinson.com, Jan 2016
Jancis Robinson
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