1966 Palmer, Margaux (Mähler-Besse Reconditioned)

The 1966 Palmer is probably justifiably eclipsed by the legendary 1961, but this is one of the greats. Several bottles tasted, the last at the Palmer vertical in London. Introverted black fruit commingles with sous-bois and autumn leaves, though there is more vigor compared to the 1970. Lovely delineation. The palate is medium-bodied, and like many 1966s, there is strictness and linearity aplenty. Yes, there is a touch of austerity, yet the focus, freshness and precision on the slightly ferrous finish is quite tantalizing. (NM)

I have had the ’66 Palmer as often as any of the great post-war clarets, but our October tasting was the first time I had tasted this beautiful wine since a lovely magnum back in the fall of 2003. It is one of the interesting characteristics of the world of wine that certain great bottles seem to cross one’s path with relative regularity, while others may be chanced upon once or twice in a lifetime. For whatever reason, the ’66 Palmer has been one of those wines to which I seem to be aligned, as I may have fifty or sixty notes on this great wine dating back since my very earliest days of serious wine tasting. In contrast, I have only tasted the ’61 Palmer on a couple of occasions over the same span. In any event, the bouquet on the 1966 is absolutely magnificent, as it offers up a perfumed mélange of sweet black cherries, cassis, mulberries, some cigar box, lovely soil tones, black truffles, a touch of nutskin and a strong topnote of violets that soars from the glass. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep, sweet and beautifully focused, with lovely structure, magnificent complexity, great depth at the core, and a long, refined and nearly endless finish of compelling dimension and grip.