Palmer back to 1985

Bernard de Laage de Meux, commercial director of Château Palmer, introduced this tasting of 10 vintages of Palmer, starting with 1985 and ending at 2005. It was laid on by Bonhams, ahead of their fine and rare wine auction tomorrow.

When I spoke to Bernard de Laage de Meux before the tasting, he was cautiously optimistic about the 2009 vintage. All being well (and the weather has been unduly warm and fine according to the recent weather reports), they will probably start picking the Merlot at the end of this week or the beginning of next, the Cabernet at...