Chateau Palmer Margaux 2017
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Rated 98/100 by James Suckling (top 6% of their reviews).
From our sommelier team
Producer history
The property's origins trace to the 18th century under the Gasq family. It took the Palmer name in 1814 after Charles Palmer, a British army general, acquired and expanded the estate. Financial difficulty eventually forced a sale, and in 1853 the Pereire banking family took control, only two years before the 1855 classification fixed Palmer as a third growth — a ranking that reflected the estate's commercial standing at that specific moment rather than its full long-term potential. The estate later passed to a consortium of négociant families (Ginestet, Miailhe, Mahler-Besse and Sichel among them), of which Mahler-Besse and Sichel remain the estate's owners today, providing the continuity that allowed the biodynamic conversion and the estate's modern reputation to be built.
Signature pairings
- Roast duck breast with port jus — The wine's aromatic, floral lift and moderate tannin (thanks to the high Merlot share) pair with the richness of duck without the tannin clash a more Cabernet-dominant Margaux might risk; the fruit-sweetness in the glass echoes a fruit-based jus.
- Massaman curry with beef (แกงมัสมั่นเนื้อ) — Massaman is a mild, warmly spiced (cinnamon, cardamom, coconut) curry rather than a chile-forward one; its sweetness and spice echo the wine's own cinnamon and dark-fruit tones, and the low chile heat avoids clashing with the wine's tannin structure.
- Aged Comté or Gruyère — A firm, nutty aged cheese has enough density to stand up to the wine's structure without the acidity or funk that would clash with its perfumed fruit character.
When the Mähler-Besse and Sichel families' syndicate acquired Palmer in 1938, they inherited an estate already defying Médoc convention — 47% of the vineyard planted to Merlot on the Cantenac-Margaux plateau's finest Gunzian Garonne alluvial gravel croupes, the very parcels where orthodoxy demands Cabernet Sauvignon. That deliberate inversion is the engine of Palmer's identity. The 122 plots across Cantenac, Issan, and Margaux sit on 18 distinct gravel, sand, and clay soil types, with the 30-hectare plateau behind the château offering gravel-over-clay and the Issan sector delivering higher pure-gravel content; the Gironde estuary moderates temperature swings, extending phenolic ripening across vines averaging 38 years old, with select blocks exceeding 70. The 2017 vintage marks Palmer's first year of full biodynamic certification — a watershed that sharpened terroir transparency across the estate. Hand-harvested fruit was fermented plot-by-plot in 42 temperature-controlled stainless vats using indigenous yeasts, with no sulfur additions at harvest; the Grand Vin then aged 20–22 months total: the first year in 225-litre French oak barriques at under 50% new wood, the second in 30-hectolitre oak vats to integrate without over-oaking. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. No other Third Growth in the Médoc plants Merlot at this proportion on premier gravel, then certifies biodynamically — 2017 is the precise vintage where both commitments converged for the first time.
Details
- Country
- France
- Region
- Bordeaux
- Subregion
- Margaux
- Variety
- Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot
- Vintage
- 2017 **
- Bottle size
- 750 ml
** Vintage may change — please confirm with our team before ordering.
Taste profile
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- Medium
- Tannin
- Medium-High
Pairs well with
- Lamb dishes
- Grilled red meat & steak
- Duck & game birds
- Hard & aged cheese
- Cured meats & charcuterie
Sommelier’s pick: Roast rack of lamb with herbes de Provence and jus · Slow-braised Wagyu short rib with truffle pomme purée · Duck breast à l'orange with wild mushroom fricassée
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