Region: Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Petit Verdot
Vintage: 2011
The Wine
Château Palmer’s 2011 is a study in Margaux refinement. The vintage challenged growers with its timing, yet Palmer’s biodynamic vineyards delivered exquisite fruit. The resulting wine is fragrant and fine-boned, balancing violets, plum, cassis and pencil shavings within supple tannins and polished oak. Elegance personified — less showy than 2009 or 2010, but beautifully poised and nuanced.
The Story Behind Château Palmer 2011
The 2011 vintage of Château Palmer tells a remarkable story of precision and perseverance. Released a decade after harvest as part of the estate’s “10 Years On” series, this ex-château release honours the philosophy of legendary oenologist Émile Peynaud, who believed that a great wine only truly begins to show itself after ten years of age. Director Thomas Duroux’s decision to cellar and re-release the wine reflects Palmer’s confidence in its evolution and the value of patient maturity.
The 2011 growing season was defined by extremes — a fierce hailstorm in early June reduced yields to barely 20 hl/ha, half the usual crop, and resulted in just 1,000 cases for the decade-on re-release. Yet that adversity became the wine’s advantage: small, concentrated berries produced exceptional fruit purity and texture. While some neighbouring estates struggled, Palmer’s vineyards endured, creating a wine that rivalled First Growth peers such as Margaux and Lafite with a 93-point critical consensus. A testament to how great terroir and intelligent viticulture can transform challenge into grace.
Cellared Says
A graceful Palmer showing what this château does best — perfume, poise and pleasure. Decant now for an hour or enjoy through 2040.
Palmer isn’t your average Bordeaux château. Under the leadership of Thomas Duroux, they farm biodynamically, ruthlessly select grapes, and bottle only half their harvest in tricky vintages like 2011. Their vines dig deep into gravelly soils layered over clay, perfectly situated near the Gironde River. This terroir, coupled with meticulous winemaking, gives Palmer wines their iconic silk-and-steel personality.
Ideal for collectors who value understatement over power. recent tasting of the 2009, 2010, 2007, and 2011 put this in very good place.
Wine Reviews
The opaque blue/purple-colored 2011 Palmer reveals a stunning bouquet of licorice, truffles, camphor, spring flowers, black raspberries and black currants. One of the superstars of the vintage, this brilliant 2011 possesses superb concentration and purity, medium to full body, and remarkable length of close to a minute. A tour de force in winemaking, the Palmer team merits accolades for achieving this level of quality in a more challenging vintage than either 2009 or 2010. The "wine of the vintage" in Margaux, tiny yields of 20 hectoliters per hectare, a final blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a severe selection (only 55% of the production made it into Palmer) are the reasons for this success.
96 Points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (212), May 2014
“Exquisitely balanced, silky and perfumed. One of the stars of the vintage.” — Wine Enthusiast 95 pts
“Delicate yet complete… Palmer delivers true Margaux class.” — Jancis Robinson 17.5/20
Region: Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Petit Verdot
Vintage: 2011
The Wine
Château Palmer’s 2011 is a study in Margaux refinement. The vintage challenged growers with its timing, yet Palmer’s biodynamic vineyards delivered exquisite fruit. The resulting wine is fragrant and fine-boned, balancing violets, plum, cassis and pencil shavings within supple tannins and polished oak. Elegance personified — less showy than 2009 or 2010, but beautifully poised and nuanced.
The Story Behind Château Palmer 2011
The 2011 vintage of Château Palmer tells a remarkable story of precision and perseverance. Released a decade after harvest as part of the estate’s “10 Years On” series, this ex-château release honours the philosophy of legendary oenologist Émile Peynaud, who believed that a great wine only truly begins to show itself after ten years of age. Director Thomas Duroux’s decision to cellar and re-release the wine reflects Palmer’s confidence in its evolution and the value of patient maturity.
The 2011 growing season was defined by extremes — a fierce hailstorm in early June reduced yields to barely 20 hl/ha, half the usual crop, and resulted in just 1,000 cases for the decade-on re-release. Yet that adversity became the wine’s advantage: small, concentrated berries produced exceptional fruit purity and texture. While some neighbouring estates struggled, Palmer’s vineyards endured, creating a wine that rivalled First Growth peers such as Margaux and Lafite with a 93-point critical consensus. A testament to how great terroir and intelligent viticulture can transform challenge into grace.
Cellared Says
A graceful Palmer showing what this château does best — perfume, poise and pleasure. Decant now for an hour or enjoy through 2040.
Palmer isn’t your average Bordeaux château. Under the leadership of Thomas Duroux, they farm biodynamically, ruthlessly select grapes, and bottle only half their harvest in tricky vintages like 2011. Their vines dig deep into gravelly soils layered over clay, perfectly situated near the Gironde River. This terroir, coupled with meticulous winemaking, gives Palmer wines their iconic silk-and-steel personality.
Ideal for collectors who value understatement over power. recent tasting of the 2009, 2010, 2007, and 2011 put this in very good place.
Wine Reviews
The opaque blue/purple-colored 2011 Palmer reveals a stunning bouquet of licorice, truffles, camphor, spring flowers, black raspberries and black currants. One of the superstars of the vintage, this brilliant 2011 possesses superb concentration and purity, medium to full body, and remarkable length of close to a minute. A tour de force in winemaking, the Palmer team merits accolades for achieving this level of quality in a more challenging vintage than either 2009 or 2010. The "wine of the vintage" in Margaux, tiny yields of 20 hectoliters per hectare, a final blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a severe selection (only 55% of the production made it into Palmer) are the reasons for this success.
96 Points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (212), May 2014
“Exquisitely balanced, silky and perfumed. One of the stars of the vintage.” — Wine Enthusiast 95 pts
“Delicate yet complete… Palmer delivers true Margaux class.” — Jancis Robinson 17.5/20
