Nose
The nose offers up black truffle, cassis, smoked herbs, and meaty aromas.
Palate
The wines are particularly fine and elegant, well balanced and perfectly concentrated.
In the mouth, there is a green pepper quality to the rich, sweet fruit. This medium-bodied, silky-textured wine is more spice-driven than most Palmers, but attractive and mouth filling. - January 1998
Growing Conditions
A miracle. The vines suffered. On April 16, the Merlot froze. In May and June, the air remained cold. Vine growth was delayed. September was exceptionally sunny, however, and the grapes surprisingly reached full ripeness. A vintage that had all the hallmarks of good ageing potential.
1978 is the year of miracles! It began with a cold winter and mixed weather in March. The vines started to grow around March 27th. At the beginning of April, the weather was quite good but the nights were chilly and the vines struggled. On the night of 16th, the vineyard and, more specifically, the Merlot plots, were hit by frost. Vegetation was set back by almost two weeks. Cold temperatures and rain in May and June slowed down growth. Full bloom was recorded on June 19th. Although temperatures were low, the lowest for thirty years for June, the vines survived. Nature is really unpredictable. The next two months continued on at the same pace and a late and not very encouraging harvest was planned. Ripening began around August 15th. After some rain in early September, an anticyclone settled on the south of France until mid-November, thus saving the vintage.
Harvest
Picking began on October 9th under fine conditions. It really is a miraculous vintage as the grapes were mature, the degrees elevated and the acidity pleasing.
Appearance
The color is a dark ruby/garnet with only slight amber at the edge.
