Palmer's 'historical' wine is not the typical vin de table
Chateau Palmer has surprised wine lovers by producing a "historical" wine based on methods used before the era of appellations d'origine controlees (AOCs).
Produced only in 2004, 2006 and 2007, winemaker Thomas Duroux blended barrels destined for chateau Palmer with up to 20 per cent syrah sourced from Hermitage, Cote Rotie and Cornas, Dr Vino reports.
This was fairly common practice in the 19th century, before the advent of the AOC system and such wines were described as "Hermitage" in tribute to the region where fine syrah is traditionally grown.
"The wine is nothing like shiraz, cabernet, merlot blends of Australia, but it's not really very Margaux either since it is fuller and richer and showing more of the syrah character now," commented the website.
Cheateau Palmer is also known for its successful second growth, the Alter Ego de Palmer, which was created in 1998 as a result of a new approach to selection and blending at the vineyard.