Andrew Jefford | Dark, saturated black-red. A treat on the nose: soft, gently turning, enticing, sheeny and fine, with dense, limitlessly classy-creamy black fruits and a little discreetly calibrated Indian spice. Magnificent, harmonious ripeness; none of the struggles and difficulties that were apparent in some of the St-Estèphes and Pauillacs. There’s even a sappy vitality to the aromas, too. As seductive as you always hope Palmer will be. On the palate, this is full and very graceful, with a gorgeously shapely backbone; it’s delicately but amply fleshed. The tannins here truly do have an amplitude rare on the Left Bank in 2015, as well as being as finely milled as you’d expect from this property; and you sense impressive craftsmanship in its nuanced allusiveness. The best wines of the Northern Médoc impress almost despite the vintage; Palmer impresses precisely because of the vintage, which absolutely suits its dappled, graceful, and softly seductive style. Agreed, it won’t be the longest-lasting Palmer of the 21st century’s second decade, but it will reward scrutiny with loveliness for at least two decades. A star of the vintage. | 96

Michael Schuster | Amply constituted, finely tannic wine; deep, sweet, fully yet crisply ripe blackberry fruit in flavor, long, mouth-coating, and aromatically complex across the palate and with remarkable length; a combination of power, finesse, and scope; a most complete Palmer, in a more powerful style, but at the same time retaining all its Margaux finesse, and with the year’s particularly refined tannins. An imposing, impressive, long-term beauty. 2028–48+ | 97