Sensational aromatics of ripe black cherries, blueberries, chocolate, roasted herbs, graphite, and violets emerge from the 2023 Château Palmer, a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot that spent 12 months in 60% new French oak followed by 12 months in foudre. It's deep, rich, and full-bodied on the palate, with flawless balance, ripe, polished tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It brings another level of brilliance, elegance, and finesse yet is deep, rich, and incredibly pure. It's one of the wines of the vintage and is distinctly Palmer! Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 30 years or more. There are roughly 11,500 cases produced. Drink 2030-2060. - jeb Dunnuck

There's not much to say about the 2023 Palmer. It was exceptionally beautiful en primeur, and it is all that today. Black cherry, plum, gravel, incense, truffle, licorice and chocolate soar from the glass. Texturally gorgeous and riveting, Palmer delivers on all fronts in 2023. As always, Palmer is one of the most distinctive wines in Bordeaux. It's next to impossible to say we are on the Left Bank. - Antonio Galloni

This is so perfumed, with aromas of dried flowers, sandalwood, black currants and blueberries. Medium- to full-bodied with tannins that melt into the wine and a beautiful texture that caresses every inch of the palate. Seductive and polished, with ripe fruit and citrus acidity. 50% cabernet sauvignon, 46% merlot and 4% petite verdot. Drinkable now, but this will give wonderful drinking pleasure in three or four years. James Suckling Senior Editor

(97-99 points) Violets, tobacco, blackberries, cigar box, spice, and black cherries form the perfume. On the palate, the wine is silky, lush, polished, and fresh. There is length, purity, velvety tannins, and a racy, energetic, fruit-packed finish, with an exotic touch of cardamon in the backend that adds even more of an edge. The almost seamless finish resonates for 50 seconds. The wine blends 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot. 14% ABV, 3.75 pH. The harvest took place September 11 - October 5. Waiting the few extra days in September made the difference in the wine this year. Yields are a scant 32 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2029-2065. 97-99 Pts.

Bottled in August 2025, after a year in barrique followed by a second year of maturation in foudre, the 2023 Palmer has turned out beautifully. Bursting from the glass with aromas of plums and blackberries mingled with notions of licorice, iris and exotic spices, it's medium- to full-bodied, with a broad, unctuous attack segueing into an ample, layered, multidimensional mid-palate girdled by sweet, powdery tannins. Sensual and demonstrative but unerringly precise, it's a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot that was picked between September 11 and October 5.

What a Palmer in 2023! Crazy aromatics, full and bright, packed with intense scents of pink and purple flowers, damson fruit - clearly ripe no doubt, but no overt heat with some graphite and liquorice on the nose too and the dried herb Cabernet notes. Rich, layered and voluptuous, one you could use the word opulent to describe, full of flavour and really fruit forward. Not as overtly juicy as some, more harmonious and balanced, the tannins are perfectly integrated with the fruit and acidity with the added plushness that the Merlot gives to the blend. Powered and structured, but less serious than some with great energy, generosity and charm on show in terms of texture but it’s focussed too with a long length. Something very captivating about this. Lots of cool classicism on the finish with a salty, mineral, oyster shell undercurrent. 55% new oak for the first year in barrel then one year in 30hl foudre. 3.75pH. 13% press. 32hl/ha yield.

(TWI 96-98 points) The 2023 Palmer is opaque purple-black in color. A little broody and subdued to start, notes of tar, damp soil, and crushed rocks soon give way to a core of fresh blackcurrants, wild blueberries, and Morello cherries with a touch of iron ore. The medium-bodied palate delivers bright, shimmery black and red berry flavors with a satiny texture and racy backbone, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. The blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

More reserved and understated than the Alter Ego on the first nose, with touch of gumoke reduction, but it doesn't take long to understand that this Palmer is full of coiled energy and lift. A ton of graphite, crushed rocks, crushed roses and peonies come in waves of aromatics through the palate, along with clearly defined and sculpted blue and red fruits. There is spice too, and a sense of momentum. 32hl/h yield, 55% new oak for ageing during the first year; with the wine then moving in moves into 3000l oak casks for the second year.