Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Margaux
Whereas the story of the vintage, as told by most proprietors and vineyard managers, began with the disappointing spring weather, at Palmer it began a little earlier. It is an often-overlooked fact that the life cycle of the vine extends over two years, not one. This is because the number of inflorescence primordia (the stems that bear the flowers that will become bunches of grapes once fertilised) is determined by conditions during summer the year before. In warm and benevolent years such as 2009 and 2010, the vines are all set to produce huge flurries of flowers and fruit the subsequent year. This would not be the case after the less appealing summer of 2011, however, which as Bordeaux savants will know was characterised by warm weather in spring and autumn, sandwiching a rather cool and dreary summer.
As a consequence, the team at Château Palmer, led by Thomas Duroux, were prepared for less vigour from the vines this year. In harmony with this, they pruned rather harder than they might usually do, reducing the number of bunches from six to four on the vines. The vineyard was thus set up for reduced yield from the outset, and in 2012 that turned out to be a distinct advantage. In a growing season which saw late and faltering ripening, with some estates carrying out not only a standard green harvest, but also a second later green harvest, or at least a toilettage in which bunches are cleaned up of unripe and unhealthy berries, the Palmer vineyards started out where everybody else ultimately wanted to be.
But I’m getting ahead of myself; before discussing the work in summer and the harvest, let’s first take a look at spring at Château Palmer.
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