Château Palmer Margaux 1855 3ième Cru 2011

Touches of raspberry and tobacco leaf straight off the first nose. This could be opened now with a good few hours in a carafe, as the tannins are fine-boned and riven through with salinity and juice. An elegant, well-balanced Palmer with white truffle, loam, and soft white pepper spice, lingering through the finish. An early harvest following a dry summer that was not overly hot, running from September 7 to 29. A hail storm at the end of June damaged 90% of the vineyard so this is a small yield at 21hl/ha – the lowest since 1961 (until 2018) – and unusually has no Petit Verdot. 60% new oak.