1975 Palmer

Fully mature and clearly on the decline, the 1975 Château Palmer is medium-bodied, focused, and linear, with a firmer, focused style best drunk up. As the old saying goes, there are no great wines, only great bottles.

Magnum. A funny wine this. When first poured (immediately after decanting) it seemed rather metallic, and fruitless in 1975 idiom. But after about 20 minutes it came out of its shell to display Margaux elegance and had its moment of fruity glory, before fading away and drying out leaving a hint of pepper. (JR)

The 1975 Palmer has consistently been one of the top wines of the vintage. The color remains a dark ruby with no signs of amber. The wine reveals plenty of sweet fruit in the fragrant bouquet. Although more tannic than most top vintages of Palmer, this is a full-bodied, rich, concentrated wine with the vintage's toughness and high tannin well-displayed. Yet I believe it possesses enough sweet fruit and extract to stand up to the tannin. Shockingly, the most developed bottle of 1975 Palmer I have tasted was from an Imperial several years ago. From my cellar, the wine is still very young, and in need of another 5-7 years of cellaring. It has another 20+ years of evolution.