Monsieur Touton Selection, Ltd.
212-255-0674

Chateau Palmer2008

RED WINE

PUBLIC
March 2025
Prices and availability subject to confirmation
Chateau Palmer label
  • Producer Chateau Palmer
  • Blend 41% Cabernet Sauvignon
    51% Merlot
    8% Petit Verdot
  • Country France
  • Region Bordeaux
  • Appellation Margaux
  • UPC 0 15643 25900 5

Reviews

James Suckling 93

Palmer knows what to do. Plenty of blackberry and licorice aromas and flavors follow through to full body, with chewy tannins and a vanilla, cedar and chocolate aftertaste. Needs time to mellow. Layered and beautiful.

by JS, James Suckling , 2010

Vinous Media 95

The 2008 Palmer has a very intense bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, crushed violet and iris scents, blossoming in the glass whilst retaining superb delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but quite rounded tannin that frame the pure blackberry and raspberry fruit. There are touches of white pepper and clove towards the finish, completing quite a superb Margaux from Thomas Duroux. Equal with Chateau Margaux? It might even be better...

by NM, Vinous Media , 2018

Wine Enthusiast 95

Rich and concentrated, touched easily by toasty wood. The tannins are so sweet, blending easily into the powerful texture of black berry fruits with, hints of licorice. This is a ripe wine, its acidity always present.

by RV, Wine Enthusiast , 2011

Wine Spectator 91

Offers dark plum, mulled currant and blackberry notes, with flashes of roasted apple wood and maduro tobacco, plus cocoa and espresso. There's nicely rounded flesh and a long, integrated finish that has some extra grip. Clearly apart from the Margaux pack in 2008. Best from 2013 through 2019.

by JM, Wine Spectator , 2011

Wine Advocate 94

A stunning success for the vintage, and possibly the Margaux of the year, this wine, which achieved 13.5% natural alcohol, is a blend of 51% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot. Loads of barbecue smoke, licorice, incense, blackberry, new saddle leather and forest floor notes jump from the glass of this dense, purple-colored wine. Extraordinarily intense and full-bodied, with plenty of tannin, but not the formidable structure of the 2010, this is going to be one of the longest-lived wines of 2008. It is full, rich, layered, and should be reasonably approachable with 3-4 years of bottle age, and will also keep for 30+ years.

by RP, Wine Advocate , 2011

Technical Details

Characteristics of the Vintage

After a mild and dry late winter season, budburst was delayed by a cold spell that set in from mid-March to late April. A very rainy month of May ended with a hail storm that hit the south of the Medoc, including a few Chateau Palmer plots, which added to the stress that the vine was undergoing. Flowering took place in June under particularly unfavorable conditions of cool, rainy weather, which caused widespread coulure. The mildew pressure was constant this year. The weather in July plays an essential role in the synthesis of phenolic compounds and it was a beautiful month, for the most part. Summer started off nicely from the very beginning, with a long period of relatively dry, beautiful weather lasting from June 20 to August 10. The less favorable period that followed and lasted until September 14 made us forget those weeks to a certain extent, all the more so because we had to fight off diseases. The cold, wet conditions in August and early September gave way suddenly and unexpectedly to a very sunny dry spell, as a northern wind set in from September 14 on, drying out the pockets of botrytis. We were able to wait for the late maturities to complement each other, with no major sanitary concerns. The nights were cool. This lent itself to a gentle, harmonious maturation, which brings out in turn a very elegant aromatic expressiveness. A miracle as only nature knows how to produce them! The Merlots displayed unexpectedly high levels of concentration, with degrees between 13.5° and 14.5°. The sugar content of the Cabernets sauvignon grapes hovered as usual around 12° and 12.5°. But there again we found a nice concentration of phenolic compounds and perfectly ripe tannins. They are velvety and display beautiful volume on the palate.