Wine Advisor
Palmer, Alter Ego de Palmer 2011
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This wine shows an inviting fruit with orangey acidity and a crispy finish. Juicy. So attractive already. This has a little more Petit Verdot in the blend. Gives it lively and interesting character. Second wine of Palmer.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The draconian selection process has resulted in a delicious second wine, the 2011 Alter Ego de Palmer. It boasts plenty of plum, black cherry and black currant fruit intermixed with hints of vanillin and earth. Medium-bodied and supple, it can be drunk early on, but should evolve for 15 or more years. Drink now-2020. Winemaker Thomas Duroux continues to fine tune this already brilliant estate, producing first-growth quality wines year after year.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The assemblage is 48% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon and for the second time, 16% Petit Verdot since it was very aromatic. The 2011 has a precocious bouquet that has forgotten that this is supposed to be 2011 and not 2009: layers of sweet macerated dark cherries, blueberry and minerals. One can really sense that Petit Verdot. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannins on the entry. It has good acidity and weight, firm grip towards the finish. Tasted April 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
More approachable (it tips the scales at 13.2% alcohol), the 2011 Alter Ego de Palmer is composed of 48% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon and a whopping 15% Petit Verdot. Despite all of the latter varietal, the wine is velvety textured, pure and impressively endowed with a lovely fragrance. It should drink beautifully for 10-15+ years.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(48% merlot, 37% cabernet sauvignon and 15% petit verdot): Fully saturated purple-ruby. Perfumed, sexy nose of fresh blackcurrant, cinnamon and aromatic herbs. Suave, dense and sweet, with ripe blackberry and cassis flavors complicated by bright minerality. This is the second time petit verdot was used in Alter Ego: director Thomas Duroux told me that because he found it less structured than usual this year but very aromatic, he thought it was ideal for the estate's second wine.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Alter Ego de Palmer has a ripe and generous bouquet, impressive fruit concentration with blackberry, raspberry and bilberry, pencil box and pressed violets. Quintessential Margaux. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins, fleshy and forward, quite bold compared to its peers though it lacks some complexity and delineation on the finish. Great nose, the palate not quite matching up. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.
About the Producer
The fine seaside climate and soils of Long Island’s North Fork provide exceptional conditions for the making of world-class varietal wines. With 110 acres planted with Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc to supply the winery’s 20,000 annual case production, Palmer strives to preserve and enhance the purity of flavor and distinctive, fresh character which makes this region’s wines so unique. The state- of-the art winery contains the most modern winemaking equipment available today, and also includes substantial new French oak cooperage, purchased each year, for both barrel fermentation of our Chardonnay and the aging of our premium red varietals.
