Château Palmer: Recovery, Decline, Recovery
The brothers just missed out on the 1855 classification which of course came only two years after their purchase. Ranked as troisième cru classé, who knows where the property and wine would have been placed if the new owners had been able to make their intended investments? Certainly, the wine’s performance today viewed in the context of the other Margaux châteaux suggests that this judgement failed to reflect the true potential of Château Palmer.
Of course at the time nobody in the region realised that the classification would be cast in stone, and suitably undeterred Émile and Isaac made numerous significant investments and improvements. Most notably, in 1856 they commissioned the architect Charles Burguet (1821 – 1879), who was subsequently responsible for many fine buildings in the city of Bordeaux, to construct a château fitting the estate’s standing. What resulted was a handsome turreted edifice, a mix of Baroque and Renaissance styles, with some elements which feel similar to those seen at Château Pichon-Baron.
