2019 Chateau Palmer, Historical XIXth Century Wine L.20.19, VdF

In 2005, Palmer's director Thomas Duroux opened a bottle of 1869 Palmer that stopped him cold. The wine had a quality he couldn't place — something older, softer, more layered than modern Bordeaux. What he was tasting was "hermitage," the 19th-century practice of adding a small measure of northern Rhône Syrah to Bordeaux to deepen its structure and radiance. The practice was legal, widely accepted, and then quietly forgotten. Duroux decided to bring it back.

The Historical XIXth Century Wine is the result — Palmer's Margaux fruit, biodynamically farmed on gravel, sand, and clay soils, blended with a small parcel of northern Rhône Syrah whose exact origin Duroux has kept secret since the project began. The L.20.19 is 47% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Syrah, aged 22 months in French oak. The 2019 growing season delivered full physiological ripeness with late-season freshness intact, and the Syrah does exactly what it was always meant to do — adds a velvety texture, a violet and black truffle complexity, and a precision that makes the wine feel both ancient and entirely alive. Only 5,000 bottles were released. This is one of the most intellectually compelling wines being made in France today.