2011 Bordeaux is a sorting vintage! It is also a winemaker vintage. If we want to keep fruit and elegance, the difficult part is not to extract too much.

“Our goal is always to produce a delicate and refined wine at Chateau Palmer, instead of a big monster Bordeaux wine”.

2011 Bordeaux really isn’t as early as some people are claiming. In May and June the grapes were maturing ahead of schedule. But July and August were cold and slowed the vines’ development.

“My grand-father has always told me that an early vintage is a good vintage. An early vintage allows me to wait for the perfect ripeness as the weather is usually more stable in September”.

With our clay and limestone soils, the vineyards were in good shape. At the end of the harvest, if we controlled the yield and do a good job in the cellar, the results will allow us to make a good wine”.

“We were stressed because of a variable Bordeaux climate until almost the end of August. And now we are happy because of the nice back season we had until the end of the 2011 Bordeaux harvest!”