What better occasion than the week of sustainable development, from April 1st to 7th, to reveal the elaboration of our Made in Château Palmer compost.  For two years now, we have been grinding the cuttings that our vineyard workers leave between the rows of vines.  A tractor then passes...

Every year, the Château traditionally welcomes interns to prepare for and monitor harvest and vinification. It is an exchange as beneficial for the interns as for the Estate. The internship allows these future professionals to discover or improve techniques that will help them in their future...

The highlights of a cycle
.The 2012 vintage is characterized by a singular contrast between spring, summer and the beginning of fall.  The month of April, particularly cool and damp, led to a late and heterogeneous bud bloom.  This was followed by late flowering, in less-than favorable...

Relive 2012 harvest throughout portraits of the men and women of Palmer, illustrating the different areas of expertise necessary to completing harvest:Charles, The art of picking. Charles is one of our 70 harvesters who arrived yesterday from the North of Danemark. Once the usual advices...

As CEO, Thomas makes a point of tasting, every morning, the samples taken from each tank.It is a unique experience to participate. Thomas understands the characteristics of each sample according to its plot of origin."Plot 11? It's never been this good!" he exclaims while tasting one of our oldest...

For the past two weeks, Sabrina Pernet and Thomas Duroux have been keeping a close eye on grapes maturity (see Maturity: The challege of the 2012 vintage)September is at its end, with a succession of beautiful days followed by cool nights. Our grapes finally reached the expected maturity after this...

Sabrina Pernet, our Technical Director, accompanied by Thomas Duroux, has been performing a morning ritual for the past few days: walking through the entire vineyard tasting the grapes. Last week, they tasted the first berries on the Merlot parcels well known for ripening early, in order to judge...

Katia FONTAYNE - Overseer, vineyard workerWith her natural and sincere smile, Katia has spent almost half of her 47 years dedicated to working in the vineyard.  She oversees today the female team of vineyard workers at Palmer and paces their activity throughout the year.Originally a cook,...

"Good things comes to those who wait." We all hope this adage will illustrate this 2012 becoming vintage. We have reached the half veraison today. An important step that gives a first indication on the harvest date. We don't expect it before the end of September, probably beginning of October.

Veraison just started on our Merlot plots located on the plateau, around the Château. Thanks to this week-end, berries are turning from green to dark red. This process will last for approximately 15 days. Fruit acidity in berries will decrease while sugar levels will increase. Polyphenols and...

At Château Palmer, every vintage is entirely matured in oak barrels. Depending on the year, 50-60% new barrels are used for Château Palmer and 30% for Alter Ego. All other barrels have been used for one previous vintage. Like parents raising a child, barrels help to point the wine in the right...

After spending the second half of the month of May thinning out the vine, our vineyard workers continue to prepare and structure the vineyard before summer begins.We have just finished with the first levage (raising the wires).  This consists of raising the support wire to better accompany the...

It's now time to begin desuckering the vine.  Done early in the growth cycle between bud break and flowering, desuckering is quite simply the act of thinning out the vine cordon (the stalks or shoots on the stump) from the vine stock to better control its vigor and microclimate.  This...

This week, and over the next month, we will be racking the 2010 vintage.  This stage comes about two months after fining (see our article Fining: in search of the ideal dosage).This consists of moving clear wine off the heavier sediment that, with the help of the egg whites, has fallen to the...

The "asse" (French Medoc word) is without a doubt a kind of Swiss knife for the winery craftsman.  Also referred to as the 'Cellar Master's Hammer', this tool is used every day as the vintage is ageing.Its three extremities are each used for different tasks on the barrel.The flat part of the...

Our team in the winery uses a whisk during the fining process to mix in the egg whites.  In order to understand the interest of collage in the process of clarifying the wine, we invite you to read our blog post Fining: in search of the ideal dosage.Once the egg whites are added to the barrel,...

At Château Palmer, fining is a simple and measured gesture in which egg whites are added during barrel ageing.  Contained in egg whites, albumin is a protein that, when added to wine, adheres to the suspended particles and causes them to settle.   This stage occurs during the wine...

There's no rest for our vineyard workers who, as soon as harvest had finished and the first cold days arrived, started the autumn and winter work on Château Palmer's 55 hectares of vineyards. Their tasks are carried out with great care but always in the interest of efficiency so that everything...

Between December and February reigns over the technical team of Château Palmer a studious atmosphere conducive to making an exceptional vintage.  The tasting sessions to prepare the final blend take place during this period.Magical moments, with measured gestures and refined palates, which...

The lowest yields since 1961.The 2011 harvest is marked by a limited production. Going back through our archives we found that it was the lowest yield since the mythical 1961 vintage (11.8 hL/ha versus 20hL/ha for 2011). A meticulous vintage.The extra time dedicated to sorting the grapes...

In harvesting this 2011 vintage, we focused on selecting only the best of what the vine gave us.  This year the hailstorm of June 4th, followed by the high temperatures of early summer, resulted in a heterogeneous yield. For this year's harvest, we chose to use Optical Eye Sorting to help us...


The first week of harvest was sunny and warm, which allowed our Belgian and Danish students to spend their weekend discovering the beaches of the Atlantic coast. This two-day break allowed the last Merlot grapes to round out; some berries needed a little more time to soften the structure of...

During the months of April and May, the sun was truly the star of the show, occupying center stage.  Not one drop of water for more than 60 consecutive days!  According to Météo France, this was the driest spring for more than a century, and the hottest in 50...

What delicious aromas - for the past several days, the vines are giving off the most refined, subtle, and attractive perfume!After a trying winter, the first buds appeared a few weeks ago and we are delighted to welcome these ephemeral blossoms and their complex bouquet.The vines are flowering, and...

Their names are Lobesia botrana and Eupoecilia ambiguella.They may sound like pretty flowers... but they are actually nasty pests! These moths produce caterpillars, also known as "grape worms", which do a great deal of damage in the vines. They burrow into the ripening grapes, perforating the skins...

In the heart of winter, our vineyard workers brave the cold and rainy weather -- conditions that are harsh and trying to say the least -- to maintain and prepare our vines so that they will be ready to begin their next growth cycle in the spring.  It's already time to prepare for the 2011...

The daily tasting sessions, started on September 23rd with the beginning of harvest, continue this week to analyze the evolution of the last tanks. The tasting team is attentive to the harmony and style of the wine, and takes into consideration how this corresponds to the grape's...

Here are some insights into this enigmatic vocabulary, and the winemaking that goes into producing the 2010 vintage. At the end of the 2010 harvest, we had picked 230,829 kilograms of grapes.  The berries were meticulously selected and placed into tanks as they arrived at the...

Our groups of harvesters have now left for their respective countries of origin. For almost three weeks the Château was the meeting point for 110 adolescents, from the ages of 16 to 21.Two groups, two objectives, and one mission: Harvest at Château Palmer.The Danish students are from Holstebro, a...




October 14, 2010: Sixteenth day of harvest at Château Palmer, a day dedicated to harvesting our 2 hectares of Petit Verdot.Almost 90% of our parcels have now been harvested.  Only 6 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon remain, scheduled to be picked early next week.
We are heading...

After being delicately cut by our harvesters, placed in their crate, then carried back to the Château, the grape bunches are then patiently separated in order to obtain only the perfect berries that will make up the essence of Palmer's wines. This rigorous selection is the result of...

What does Sabrina Pernet's day look like during harvest?Without a doubt it's a day that starts early... and finishes late! Harvest is a rich and intense step in making our wines, at it demands a great deal of attention. This is a strategic moment.  The vine has been developing all...

Harvest began on September 22nd, when our vineyard workers began picking the replacement vines and the young plants. Early last week, our group of Danish and Belgian students arrived to complete the group. This happy procession of harvesters picked almost all the Merlot parcels. Every morning,...

Parcels 37 and 38, more poetically referred to as Le Nid Médocain (Médoc's Nest), were divided up and harvested over time, as a certain number of our other parcels. This method of intra-parcel selection shows our unending desire to improve the quality of our wines. Our three tasters - Thomas...

Last week, our team of vineyard workers got down to harvesting the replacement vines, before the arrival of our 110 student harvesters this week. What are replacement vines? Every year, on our older plots, a few of our vine stocks pass on... young stock are planted in their stead so that the...

The green light for harvest was given yesterday and we began with the young Merlot vines. After the Primeurs, harvest is the other hectic period of our year. Indeed, professionals and wine lovers around the world are closely following the quality of the grapes, which will determine the quality of...

Sabrina Pernet and Thomas Duroux, respectively Technical Director and CEO, took their first tour of the Merlot parcels yesterday morning in order to taste the berries and determine their level of ripeness. Tasting showed an important level of potential tannins. This was later confirmed by the...

We have had beautiful, dry, sunny weather since mid-June and, after three rather demanding vintages, are delighted with the very low level of fungal disease. In fact, the last real rainy spell goes back to the 15th and 16th of June, after the Merlot had finished...

After excellent weather in early June, a week of cold and rain in the middle of the month interfered with the end of flowering and the beginning of fruit set. Incomplete fertilisation in some Merlot vines led to millerandage, although it is difficult at this time to evaluate the consequences on the...

After being fined last month with egg whites, the 2008 vintage continues to be aged in French oak barrels. Fining is a simple, but delicate process. It is essential to adjust the proportion of egg white used with the wine's structure to respect both the style and balance of the vintage. To...

There is a tradition at Palmer that our savoir-faire and experience be shared with students from a wide variety of nationalities. Noé PIERRON, a student in BTS at the CFPPA in Blanquefort, has been an intern here since early October.  He is in charge of the important task of following...

We had barely begun yesterday, and today we're already picking the last clusters! 6% of Palmer's vineyard is planted with petit verdot.  This year, petit verdot grapes have proven difficult to separate from their stems.  The team in the winery stayed late last night to carefully complete their...