07 Masterclass: Vertical Tastings of Château Palmer with the Owner Thomas Duroux

A top master class that will focus on the terroir of Bordeaux Margaux Village. The owner, Mr. Thomas Duroux, will lead a wine tasting of 5 excellent vintages of Château Palmer and two vintages of Alto Ego, including the second apostle 1999 in the Japanese cartoon The Drops of God, which is also the most amazing “natural wine”.

Chateau Palmer is a Third Growth Grand Cru Classé in the Médoc Classification of 1855, but considered as good as “the Super Second Growth” in terms of the reputation and the price, its several vintages can even be compared to the Premiers Crus. The wine is famous for its delicate and elegant style. Robert Parker takes Chateau Palmer as one of the most remarkable wine in Margaux region. In the famous Japanese cartoon The Drops of God, 1999’s Palmer is one of the twelve apostles. 1961 was definitely an outstanding vintage in Bordeaux and a hot cake in the auction market.

As an outstanding representative of the top-level terroir of the Margaux region, the Chateau Palmer will never show excessive strength and is always harmonious and refined. The complex and fresh fruit flavor is perfectly integrated with the beautiful and attractive floral and spice smell. The clear and rigorous structure and extraordinary texture are the perfect interpretation of the elegant and pure style.

At the 2018 International Wine Symposium, the General Manager of Chateau Palmer, Mr. Thomas Duroux, will bring us a master class of a rare vertical tasting. Look at the list of wines, the oldest wine is the 1999 Vintage, which is the second apostles in the famous Japanese Cartoon The Drops of God. There are also wines from vintages of 2005（RP98 / JR18.5）, 2008（RP95 ／ JR18.5） and 2011（JR18.5）, which have acquired high scores from wine critic Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson. Moreover, we will taste the 2014 vintage（JR18）, which is the first vintage without sulfur added.

This is the best opportunity to understand the terroir and the aging ability of the Chateau Palmer and the Margaux region.

List of Wines

1. Alter Ego de Palmer 2014

2. Château Palmer 2014

3. Alter Ego de Palmer 2011

4. Château Palmer 2011

5. Château Palmer 2008

6. Château Palmer 2005

7. Château Palmer 1999

Masterclass: Vertical Tastings of Château Palmer with the Owner Thomas Duroux

Time: 2 December 2018, Sunday 16:30-18:00

Address: Multi-function Hall, 3rd Floor, The St. Regis Shanghai Jing’an, No.1008, West Beijing Road

Price: Early bird ticket 2790 RMB / person, a pair of tickets 5380 RMB, Original price 3090 RMB/ person

Speaker: Mr. Thomas Duroux, the general manager of the Château Palmer

Language: French, on-site interpretation into Chinese

Registration: Click here to register>>

※ There’re no printed copies of the master class tickets. Once the purchase is finished, please keep the e-ticket for admission.

Speaker

Thomas Duroux

The General Manager of Chateau Palmer

In 2004, the 34 years old Thomas Duroux took charge of the Chateau Palmer. Before, he worked for the Chateau Ornellaia in Tuscany. He is both winemaker and agriculturalist, who has deep understanding about new world and old world wine making. Under his guidance, the quality of the Chateau Palmer continues to rise. The chateau started the method of biodynamic planting and the method of the natural wine brewing without sulfur in 2014, and in 2017, the winery has mastered the way of vinification that making wine with no sulfur added and do not control the yeast flora. It is the only “natural wine” in Bordeaux. 。

About Winery

Chateau Palmer is located in Margaux region, a famous wine region of Médoc. It is adjacent to the famous Premier Cru Classe Chateau Margaux and the Second Growth Cru Château Rauza-Ségla. Although Chateau Palmer is classified as the Third Growth in the Médoc classification of 1855, it’s among the Third Growth Cru wineries that is able to challenge the Premier Classé.

Robert Parker takes Chateau Palmer as one of the most remarkable winery in Margaux region. He gave Chateau Palmer’s wine more than 96 scores for 8 times. Hugh Johnson considers that Chateau Palmer is not only a “Super Second Growth Cru”, it has strength to be compared with the Premiers Crus.

In the 19th century, the price of Chateau Palmer is comparable to that of Chateau Margaux, and sometimes even higher. In 1960s, Chateau Margaux was at his low tide. At that time, Chateau Palmer produced the best wine in terms of the quality in Margaux region. The wines of Chateau Palmer have the similar characteristics with that of Chateau Margaux, which are dark color and the enrichment of flavor. Because Chateau Palmer has higher ratio of Merlot in the blending, its wine tastes softer and richer. 1961 is one of the most standout vintages during the last century in Bordeaux. Chateau Palmer made a great wine in this vintage and the wine perfectly expressed the characteristics of terroir. As a result, the winery attracted global attention and has been distinguished as a “Super Grand Cru”.

In 2004, the Japanese popular wine-related cartoon The Drops of God was published. The wine of Chateau Palmer 1999 was selected as the second apostle. It also brought the rising of its price and reputation of Chateau Palmer. In this cartoon, the author describes the wine as the Mona Lisa, strong but soft, “filling with infinite power and having tenderness and compassion at the same time; wrapping my heart tenderly like a sponge. I would like to treat this painting as the person whom I love.”

Chateau Palmer created its sub-brand in 1983, “La Réserve du General”. The winery changed the philosophy of wine-making in 1998, then the name has adjusted to “Alter Ego”, which means “another me” in Latin. The Chinese name is “confidant”. This wine is also made to express the same terroir, but the winery has used a different wine-making method and a different ratio of grapes. The sub-brand aims to produce a richer, crisper and juicier wine, which is more suitable for early drinking. This sub-brand is the closest to the main brand in term of quality among all the famous sub-brands in Bordeaux.