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Tasting notes
Plenty of upfront raspberry and blackberry fruits, not as elegant as the 2001 but with structure and concentration. Touches of white pepper spice, along with gunsmoke and cigar box as it opens, this is enjoyable and has a skip of acidity that keeps your mouth watering and keeps momentum drawing you forward through the palate. Harvest September 26 to October 7, 60% new oak. Palmer avoided some of the heavier rains that affected much of Bordeaux during harvest (just 5mm on this spot in the biggest storm of September 20), and was seen as one of the wines of the vintage. Impressive, and surprising.
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The 2002 Palmer is maturing nicely, the new oak better integrated with further bottle age with ripe blackberry, sandalwood, sous-bois and graphite. Very natural and refined. The palate is tannic and taut on the entry, still with that crisp thread of acidity but I am still finding just a touch of hardness on the finish that needs more persistency. Give this another couple of years.
Drink 2010-20 Glossy, sweet and fragrant. Looking good! Fresh and just slightly tobacco. Clean finish. Quite long.
Good medium ruby. Pungent, slightly medicinal aromas of raw blackberry, bitter chocolate and camphor. Penetrating, pure and leanish; classically dry but fruity, with a distinctly herbal component to go with the crushed berries. Quite tightly wound but expanded nicely in the glass with aeration. Finishes with rather forbidding tannins for a young Palmer, as well as a flavor of chocolate. Even the merlot was rather powerfully structured in 2002, noted Bouteiller. Will this always show a stiff side? (Other early tasters apparently found more obvious ripeness and refinement to go with the wine's freshness than I did.)
About the producer
Ch. Palmer is one of the finest producers in Bordeaux. The Margaux Third Growth is known for its significant plantings of old-vine Merlot, typically representing a large portion of the blend and responsible for the generous and supple style Ch. Palmer is known for.