Vin Blanc de Palmer 2016
Vin Blanc de Palmer 2016, At the beginning of the 20th century, owning Château Palmer had a few advantages. One was the custom of producing a few barrels of white wine purely for the owners’ consumption. The tradition continued until the late 1930s, and only ended with the outbreak of war. Then in the late 1990s, a discovery was made in the estate’s cellars: two bottles of Vin Blanc de Palmer from 1925. The long-lost wine gave the teams in the Village and vineyard an idea. So by the early 2000s, Muscadelle, Sauvignon Gris and Loset vines were back in the ground, and in 2007, the Vin Blanc de Palmer was reborn.
Chateau Palmer’s Vin de Blanc has a fortuitous, if not, miraculous history. It all started from rather humble beginnings: in the early 1900s it was customary for Chateaux to produce several barrels of wine for personal use and consumption. This pragmatic tradition continued and ended by the 1930s with the onset of WWII – and seemingly all trace of the Vin Blanc and its legacy vanished, without so much as a whisper…
Fast forward to the late 1990s, an unforeseen discovery was made in the Chateau’s cellars: two bottles of 1925 Vin Blanc were found. Whether by fate or serendipity, the estate’s team used the prodigious finding as a launch to reincarnate the long-forgotten cuvee. Several years later, Palmer replanted the esoteric varietals of Muscadelle, Sauvignon Gris, and Loset with the inaugural re-release of the Vin Blanc in 2007.
Recently, the Sotheby’s Wine team had the privilege to taste the Vin Blanc de Palmer ’16, and it was stunning! Made of 40% Muscadelle, 34% Sauvignon Gris, and 26% Loset, the palate is bright, expressive, and subtly creamy – citrus and stone fruits, white flowers, and palpable minerality are several of the many layers in this cuvee that kept changing and improving with every sip. And while the profile is generous, quantities are not – very little makes it to the US. Act quickly as stock is limited. Available in original wooden casing when purchased in quantities of three.
