From the iconic Margaux estate, Château Palmer 2020 is a sumptuous, full-bodied wine that exemplifies elegance and power. Aromatic notes of raspberries, cassis, black truffles, violets, and hints of cocoa and truffle lead the nose. The palate is layered and concentrated, revealing vibrant dark fruit, silky tannins, and lively acidity, all seamlessly integrated with refined oak. This wine combines depth, finesse, and structure, with a long, enduring finish.

The Wine Advocate | RP 97
Published: Apr 6, 2023
Drink: 2027-2060 

Aromas of raspberries, cassis and cherries mingle with hints of violets, raw cocoa and hints of truffle in a perfumed bouquet. The 2020 Palmer is a full-bodied, layered and seamless wine that's deep and concentrated, with a vibrant core of beautifully pure and perfumed fruit, lively acids and ultra-refined tannins. This suave but authoritative Palmer is one of the high points of the vintage.

Thomas Duroux continues to produce singularly textural, powerful wines at this historic Margaux property, where he has introduced a new focus on parcel-by-parcel viticulture and vinification, as well as pioneering biodynamic methods, over the better part of the last two decades. Today, cover crops are the order of the day, much of the vineyard isn't hedged, and fruit trees are being planted in the rows as part of an agroforestry initiative. The core of Palmer derives from the plateau around the château, where soils consist of a millefeuille of sandy gravel, clay-rich gravel, sandy gravel again and then a meter of pure clay. It's old-vine Merlot, planted on these soils, that lends Palmer its richness and flesh. There are other parcels dotted around the appellation, of course, including a large block of coarser gravel surrounded by trees, not far from Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre.

James Suckling | JS 98
Published: Mar 30, 2023

Great aromas of blackcurrants, black truffles, blueberries, lead pencil and hints of cedar. Full-bodied and powerful with fantastic tannin backbone giving it great length and power. Muscular. Toned. Flexing. This needs time. Best after 2028.

Decanter | D 98
Published: Jan 3, 2023
Drink: 2028-2059

An irresistible wine from Palmer in 2020, sumptuous and voluptuous, open and appealing yet with all the elements so very carefully set in their place. Rich and evocative on the nose, dark and brooding with softly perfumed violet and rose aromas but it’s the texture that captivates on the palate with soft and seductive velvety tannins that immediately expand in the mouth giving power but also refinement. Mouthwatering and juicy but rich at the same time, so approachable you could drink this right now and just marvel in its nuance, structure and ease - and the oak integration is seamless. I love the liquorice bite and chalky sensation alongside vibrant black fruit though a sense of heat and menthol, liquorice freshness at the finish reminds you this is a serious wine that is built to last. This really carries the Margaux beauty and charm. A long life ahead but once opened this will disappear out of the bottle instantaneously.

Jancis Robinson | JR 17.5+
Published: Jan 25, 2024

Tasted blind. Black core with crimson rim. Dark and ripe with a hint of damsons. Ripe black plum and gently floral, plus lead pencil. Complex aroma. Rich, deep, chewy, generous and powerful with finesse on the long finish. (JH)

Chateau-palmer.com

Over the course of 2020, a year like no other, it was as if time had been suspended, forcing us to place some of our activities on hold. But this parenthesis also gave us?an opportunity to refocus our efforts on the essentials: cultivating our vines, genuinely observing and listening to our environment, and striving to live wholly in rhythm with the life pulse of a thriving vineyard. In the wake of an extraordinary 2018 and a 2019 of profound elegance, the 2020 vintage of Chateau Palmer, with its class and sensuality, rounds off a truly exceptional trilogy.

MERLOT 48%
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 48%
PETIT VERDOT 4%