1978 Palmer

The 1978 Palmer is fully mature and most likely on a downward trajectory. Nevertheless, it has a beautiful perfume of tobacco, forest floor, spice, and mature fruits. Silly and lively on the palate, it dries up with too much time in the glass but is still a regal, elegant Bordeaux. Drink up.

The 1978 Palmer is a vintage that I have encountered several times, one of the best of that decade. Still youthful in colour considering it is now forty years old, the bouquet is winsome with dusky black fruit, black truffle, smoke and iris. As I remarked in previous notes, this is unashamedly old school. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and vibrant with fine tannin. There is that spicy vein on the entry, here just a hint of blood orange and a slightly ferrous, cedar-driven finish. It is just a very well made mature Margaux that will not improve with bottle age, but neither is it duty bound to do so. A lovely wine. Tasted blind at Domaine de Chevalier.

Tasted at the Château Palmer vertical in London from magnum, the 1978 Château Palmer has always been a great success for the vintage (mirroring the rejuvenated Château Margaux perhaps?). Here, it has a powerful, expressive nose with cedar, sous-bois and cigar-box scents interwoven into the vestiges of black fruit. This is "old school," perhaps the cousin of the magnificent 1966. The palate is medium-bodied and well balanced, hints of spice and cedar, a little dustiness perhaps towards the finish, but overall a convincing Margaux that has far more vigor and length than you would presume. While it is not a renowned vintage for Château Palmer, it's a wine I would jump upon if I found it for sale. Tasted May 2015.