A hard, thin, lifeless 2002 Palmer.

[JimHow]

After pretty much fasting from alcohol for the past month other than a little wine at a couple dinners in Fairbanks, I decided to uncork what I thought would be something good upon my return to Maine yesterday, a 2002 Palmer. It didn't seem to be corked, but it was pretty hard to drink. Lifeless, hard, thin, like chewing on nails. Tannic and acerbic. Maybe it was damaged, I don't know, but it offered very little pleasure. 85 points.

[Gerry M.]

That's sad to hear. Palmer is one of my favorites but the prices have really soared.over the last few years. I've been sparingly opening them on special occasions knowing I probably not be buying again. I do still have some 70', 83', 89' and 00'. The 70' I think I'll have to drink up soon though and your note is prodding my to do it.

I've never had the 02' but, while not expecting a blockbuster, I would think it's a solid wine. The CT notes are all over the place but tend to indicate it's at a "drink now" point. Maybe put aside and try next day?

[JimHow]

Yeah, a disappointment Gerry, it may have been damaged, I don't know.

[marcs]

Was this from the MacArthur's score way back when (the weekend I first met a lot of you guys!)? I bought a number of bottles of Palmer and after trying one I sold most of the rest (I still have one left). I didn't find it quite as bad as you seem to but it wasn't good. Palmer is a plush, merlot-dependent wine and 2002 was not a good year for that approach.

[JimHow]

I don’t think it was from the MacArthurs heist, it could have been, but I think I’ve had that lone bottle in my cellar for quite a while.

[AKR]

Ugh that hurts to hear.

[marcs]

I wouldn't infer from this to other vintages of Palmer. Like I said, 2002 was a particularly bad year for their approach.

[Nicklasss]

The worst that can happens to a BWEers, is a 2002 Palmer like you had Jim. But i agree, probably a defective bottle as I can't imagine Palmer not performing well in any vintage.

You probably would have been better with a decent bottle of 2002 GPL.

Nic

[Claudius2]

Guys
Out of curiosity I checked the notes on Cellartracker and the average rating based on 94 notes was 91.6 and the descriptions of the wine were neatly always positive. Comments seemed to be similar to many other Palmer vintages and some comments were glowingly good.
So that bottle sounds like it is atypical.

[JimHow]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think it was damaged, Claudius.

[jckba]

A couple of years ago, Jim (aka Bordeauxnut) brought a 2002 Palmer to a wine dinner of mine and while it was drinkable, it did not possess any of the Palmer charm one would come to expect.

[robert goulet]

I had the 2002 alter ego a few years after release...it's was a very pretty and charming wine....had another bottle 8yrs later and the fruit had faded leaving oak as the prevalent denominator, a disappointing experience.

[Comte Flaneur]

My guess it needs one or two more Blanquitos. I have a lone bottle which I am waiting on. Jim’s was the first bad experience I had read about with this wine.

[JimHow]

Yeah, agreed, I'm really thinking it was damaged somehow, although I don't think it was corked.
It just never opened up, it was painful to drink.

[DavidG]

Ian’s Blanquito comment reminds me of the shopkeeper in the Monty Python dead parrot sketch: “Its not dead, it’s just sleeping." Ian, I hope your bottle fares better than the parrot.

[Blanquito]

Thread drift, but is the 2019 Palmer at ~$200 a must-buy, never-to-be-seen-again futures pricing for this chateau? Like everything else these days, the critics are quite high on 2019 in general and Palmer specifically, but I haven’t really paid attention to the vintage’s style and quality.

[DavidG]

I bought some 2019 Palmer at that price. Haven’t tasted it but it did get a lot of "must ave" recommendations. That said, if $200 turns into $250 landed due to tariffs, I may bail.

[Comte Flaneur]

Yes I hope the parrot is still alive David.

Ch. Palmer 2019 was released at £999/6 in bond, a bargain by Palmer standards. I didn’t bit but I know people who did including Mark in this forum.

[William P]

Ian’s Blanquito comment reminds me of the shopkeeper in the Monty Python dead parrot sketch: “Its not dead, it’s just sleeping." Ian, I hope your bottle fares better than the parrot.

I believe the next line was, "It was dead when you nailed him to the perch".