Champagne Palmer & Co
Palmer & Co is the brand name of the Société de Producteurs des Grand Terroirs de Champagne, which was founded after World War II by seven growers in the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims. This rather upmarket cooperative admits only members who have privileged vineyard sites. Today its holdings extend to 380 hectares of mainly grands and premers crus on the Montagne de Reims, but there are also some choice sites on the finest Chardonnay hillsides between Chouilly and Vertus on the Côte des Blancs.
The winemaking is admirably classical and unhurried, taking place in a modern cuverie above deep old cellars in the centre of Reims. Even today, processes like remuage are given plenty of time; there are good stocks of reserve wines; and the Champagnes are rested for three to six months after dégorgement. Almost unheard of for a working cooperative, Palmer has a library of old vintages back to 1947: I remember sharing a bottle of the magnificent 1961 in 1994 with the director, Jean-Claude Colson, whose company and sense of humour were as delightful and sparkling as his wines.
The entry-level Brut Non-Vintage is a 50/40 mix of highly rated pinot noir and chardonnay with 10 per cent pinot meunier form Marne ,well-aged, with a fine vinous complexity, deepening a Champagne of precise focus and enduring elegance. By comparison, the Rosé Brut is a very full expression of strongly constituted pinot noir aged in a Solera system, as you would expect from grapes grown in some of the best parcels of the Montagne. The Blanc de Blancs 2000 continues to be a fine and durable example of this generally forward and fruity vintage, with a medley of expressive grapefruit flavours, supple mouthfeel, and a nice touch of biscuit autolysis. The Cuvée Amazon comes in an original, somewhat bizarre, oval-shaped bottle that looks like a rugby ball. The wine inside is serious enough, though: a multi-vintage blend that is rounded but still fresh, for relatively early drinking. By contrast the 2002, the Vintage assemblage Brut 2002 is an exceptional Champagne from the one of the greatest years since the Société was founded, still worth cellaring for a few years. I look forward to tasting the 2008 and, please God, eventually the 2012 – perhaps the greatest Pinot Noir vintage since 1952 and 1947.
Michael Edwards
Michael Edwards is een gelouterd en gelauwerd champagne schrijver. Zijn boek Finest Wine of Champagne heeft, net zoals de auteur, meerdere prijzen gewonnen. Deze tekst is een aangepaste en geupdate versie, uiteraard gepubliceerd met toestemming van de auteur. Michael Edwards is champagne redacteur van winebusiness.nl
Champagne Palmer & Co wordt in Nederland geïmporteerd door Residence wijnen/De Gouden Ton. De prijzen variëren van € 25,95 voor een Brut Reserve tot € 29,95 voor een Brut Millesimé, daarmee is Champagne Palmer & Co een prijskwaliteit kampioen. De naam Palmer & Co is lukraak gekozen naar een destijds populair koekjesmerk. Chateau Palmer weet hiervan en staat dit oogluikend toe, ze zijn namelijk enthousiast over de champagne. Palmer & Co is een coöperatie en maakt ook champagne die leden onder hun eigen naam verkopen, daarnaast is Palmer & Co populair voor de vin sur lattes, ongelabelde gebottelde flessen die verkocht worden aan andere grote huizen.
Foto: Raymond Ringeval, exportmanager
