Alter Ego de Château Palmer 2017
Last night, we had a gathering with a few ex-colleagues and friends, as a remembering in the memory of our dear colleague, mentor and friend, Bernard de Laage de Meux, who passed away recently.
Ken Man brought this bottle of Alter Ego, the second wine of Château Palmer, where Bernard worked for 15 years (1999 - 2014). It was a way to have a bit of Bernard with us.
A bottle of Château Le Bon Pasteur would also have been a nice touch, as Bernard was the President of LBP until his passing. We will definitely find one for our next gathering.
As I always like to say: People who passed away only die if/when we stop thinking and talking about them like they were still there. Otherwise, they live on forever in our memories, thoughts, dreams, prayers and discussions.
So, that what we did, we revived our memories of Bernard, while eating some Chinese food and drinking a wine he was related to at some point in his life.
Despite being very young, this Alter Ego 2017 was really opened and approchable, generous, opulent and surprisingly good, for a vintage that is considered to be difficult mostly due to a severe frost in April, which considerably impacted some producers in some areas. In short, a very heterogeneous vintage resulting in average to good, bad and ugly wines.
That said, the growing conditions were not so bad after all. As per Jancice Robinson "rain end of June, dry summer, hot August, damp start to September, fine finish", allowing some producers to make some good wines. And, this Alter Ego is definitely a very good example of it.
Dark, inky color. Youthful nose boasting aromas of ripe dark fruits and berries, mingling with integrated oaky, toasted, smoky and earthy notes. Smooth and ample in the palate, without being heavy, generous and textured, focused and well crafted, with a good balance between the fruit, the acity and the tannins. Nicely expanding from the attack to the finish. What a very pleasant surprise! Loved it.
We did several toasts last night, yet, once again, with this post, I'd like to raise my glass to you Bernard. We miss you.
Dom
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