Visitors to Chateau Palmer receive a book that goes into great detail about the history and philosophy of the Chateau. There is a great quote on page 15 of the book:
What goes into the making of a grand cru is the mysterious trilogy of terroir, history, and memory.
I write a lot about the technical aspects of wine because I am fascinated by the methods if winemaking. But, great wine is more than the mechanics of winemaking and it is nice to be reminded of that.
I am not the only one who thinks Chateau Palmer is something special. In 1996 the Director of a Danish school fell in love with Chateau Palmer. In fact he was so impressed that he started bringing students down to learn how to harvest.
About 150 students come down for a month during harvest. Each student is given a book with all the harvest rules.
The vineyard consists of 47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Petit Verdot. The harvest was very heterogenous this year, with all of the grapes coming in very ripe with lots of flavor.
One really cool thing that was introduced this year at Chateau Palmer is a machine that, during maceration, spreads juice around the tank, instead of in one spot while the pneumatage process is occurring.
The point is to spread the juice around the tank and increase color and acidity of the wine.
1 comments:
very good
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