ALTER EGO
2021 du Château Palmer Margaux
Savory black and salted-olive character with oyster shells and black licorice. Fine, almost powdery yet firm tannins. Medium body. Excellent density and structure for the vintage. Second wine of Palmer. 60% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot and 8% petit verdot. From biodynamically grown grapes. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2022)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Deep plum in colour, with silky cassis and plum fruits on the attack. This is savoury, with sappy acidity that is mouthwatering rather than biting. This isn't exuberant and doesnt have huge flesh to the fruit, but it is a truly enjoyable and engaging wine that is one of the '2nds' of the vintage. More black fruit in this than the Palmer in many ways. Higher Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend than usual after frost affected the Merlot, giving it more of a classical Margaux balance than you find in most vintages of Alter Ego, which tends to be generous. 3.76ph. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2022)
60 Cabernet Sauvignon, 32 Merlot, 8 Petit Verdot | 25% new oak, (65% aged twice - November to July and then in 30hl foudre from July to July). | 13% alc | 22 hl/ha While they lost 20% of the crop due to the inclement conditions, resulting in a 22 hl/ha yield across the estate, it might have been 5hl/ha more without the frost. I feel for biodynamic estates in vintages like these, and while yields are always low, it is often the case, certainly among the top producers, that the wines are rather delicious. This is a super-precise Alter Ego, and while winemaker Thomas Duroux was worried he would end up with a hole in the palate and hard tannins, he has made a wine that is entirely the opposite. Petit Verdot acts as a marriage counsellor, keeping the other two grapes together, and the results are astounding. Soothing, silky, refined and crunchy, this is a lesson in trusting your vines and also your instinct. Thomas thinks the timing of the ripening of the grapes contributes to the lovely, green floral note found in the finest wines. He describes this as “not unripeness, but just-ripeness”, and who am I to argue. Rating: 17.5 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2022)
The 2021 Alter Ego de Palmer is a somewhat unusual blend, in that it's fully 60% Cabernet Sauvignon this year, the estate's Merlot having suffered in the April frosts. Exhibiting aromas of cherries, sweet berries and plums mingled wit hints of spices and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and polished, with a charming, seamless profile founded on beautifully refined structuring tannins. Tasted twice. Rating: 91-93 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (May 2022)
The 2021 Alter Ego has quite a penetrating bouquet with an accentuated marine/oyster shell aspect that combines with the vivid blue and black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit, certainly a more structured Alter Ego than usual with a fine line of acidity and graphite/cedar notes furnishing the finish. This will require some bottle age, but it should mature extremely well. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2022)
Palmer's 2021 Alter Ego is fabulous. Dense and rich in the glass, with positively explosive energy, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. A rush of dark cherry, plum, spice, blood orange, menthol and licorice infuses the palate with tremendous intensity. Hints of rose petal and pomegranate appear later to round things out. The 2021 possesses tremendous textural richness that is evident from the very first taste. The aromatics alone are especially present today. Drinking range: 2026 - 2041 Rating: 92-94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2022)
Château Palmer
Margaux Troisième cru 1855 What is now Château Palmer was originally part of a larger Château d'Issan but was divided among heirs and came into the ownership of the Gascq family in 1748. The widow of the last of the Gascqs, in 1814, and apparently having met him on a stagecoach, sold the estate to an Englishman, General Charles Palmer, and Château de Gascq became Château Palmer. He extended the estate and built quite a reputation for his wines (especially in London) but financial difficulties forced him to sell up in 1843 and, by the time of the 1855 classification, the reputation of Château Palmer had slipped sufficiently to rate "only" 3rd Growth status - a status it has exceded for most of its subsequent history. The present château was built at the end of the 1850's. In 1938 the Société Civile de Château Palmer was formed to take ownership of the estate, with the Sichel and Mähler-Besse families as leading shareholders, a situation which persists to this day. Château Palmer sits between Margaux and Cantenac, just east of Issan. The 55ha of vines are planted to 47% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with the balance being Petit Verdot. The Grand Vin spends 21 months in wood (45% new). The second wine is Alter Ego de Château Palmer. In the best years of General Palmer's reign, the wines of Château Palmer were regarded on a par with those of Château Margaux and, indeed, during the worst years of the 1960's Palmer probably had a better reputation. Today, despite huge improvements by its neighbours, Palmer sits very squarely as the leading Margaux estate that isn't actually Château Margaux.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2025. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.