Alter Ego de Château Palmer 2025
Margaux
Bordeaux, France
Regular price£325.00
/
Arriving: Mid 2028
Shipping duty paid to Mainland UK is charged at a flat rate of £9.99 per consignment and POA for Northern Ireland or Islands.
Shipping under bond is dependant on location, but starts at £15 per consignment.
| Style: Red | Packaging: OWC |
| ABV: 13.0% | Closure: Cork |
| Organic: | Drink from: 2030 |
| Biodynamic: | Drink to: 2042 |
| Grapes: 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot | |
Critic scores
91-93 RP, 92-94 NM, 94-96 AG, 92-94 JD, 91-93 LPB, 93 JA, 94 DC, 93-95 JL, 92-94 DB
Critic reviews
"The 2025 Alter Ego de Palmer unwinds in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums and violets, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated palate defined by lively acids and plenty of sweet, powdery tannin. Checking in at 13% alcohol, it's a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot. The low yields of 20 hectoliters per hectare might shock other estates, but Palmer has become much more habituated to such numbers in recent years."
William Kelley, April 2026, RobertParker.com
"The 2025 Alter Ego, aged in 20% new oak for eight months then transferred into foudres, has a quite effervescent, sorbet-fresh bouquet with perfumed black cherry and cassis fruit, becoming more floral with touches of pressed violet mixed with blood orange. Real intensity. The palate is framed by supple and fluid tannins, but there is certainly backbone to this Alter Ego, with gentle but insistent grip towards the finish. It coheres beautifully in the glass, with ample length and is very refined. Lovely."
Neal Martin, May 2026, Vinous.com
"The 2025 Alter Ego is bold, juicy and super expressive right out of the gate. A wine of total pleasure and seduction, this will drink beautifully with minimal cellaring. Soft, plush contours wrap around a core of red plum, mocha, cedar, espresso and cinnamon. All the elements are so well balanced. Floral top notes and a kick of blood orange perk up the brilliant finish. This is such a classy, polished wine—an especially fine Alter Ego. The blend is 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot."
Antonio Galloni, April 2026, Vinous.com
"Beautiful deep plum colour, so juicy and mouth watering, with a real energy and momentum, blueberry, cherry pit, love the powerful concentration and sense of lift through the palate, and things really grip as it opens and unfolds. 20hl/h, as with everywhere, 3.65ph, harvest September 8 to 24."
Jane Anson, April 2026, JaneAnson.com
"Quite a spiced notes on the nose, really aromatic, a little toasted with cinnamon, cedar, dried herbs, some florality and blackcurrants. Smooth and creamy with a crushed velvety aspect to the tannins which fill the mouth and create a soft cushioning of texture from which the ripe but also cool blueberry aspects widen. Quiet, calm, still massy with power and muscles but well integrated and not shouting. It’s certainly juicy and mouthwatering with a crystalline blueberry aspect. Great purity but still with this wide frame and quite firm liquorice spiced edges. Lots going on here. More Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend than Merlot. 15% press wine. "
Geogina Hindle, April 2026, Decanter.com
"(Margaux; 53% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; 13% alcohol; tasted with Tomas Duroux at Palmer). This sparkles and is interestingly different, with notes of cordite, struck match, incense and a little blueberry alongside the more familiar black cherry, black raspberry and cassis. There's a touch of cedar, a lot of graphite and a load of class! And grated - and reassuringly expensive - black chocolate for good measure. The late August rain was essential to allow this to attain full phenolic maturity. This is intense, yet very gentle and almost polished on the attack, focused and pure through the mid-palate, with that purity conveyed by the dark berry freshness drawn up from below vertically and well-sustained on the finish. "
Colin Hay, April 2026, DrinksBusiness.com
William Kelley, April 2026, RobertParker.com
"The 2025 Alter Ego, aged in 20% new oak for eight months then transferred into foudres, has a quite effervescent, sorbet-fresh bouquet with perfumed black cherry and cassis fruit, becoming more floral with touches of pressed violet mixed with blood orange. Real intensity. The palate is framed by supple and fluid tannins, but there is certainly backbone to this Alter Ego, with gentle but insistent grip towards the finish. It coheres beautifully in the glass, with ample length and is very refined. Lovely."
Neal Martin, May 2026, Vinous.com
"The 2025 Alter Ego is bold, juicy and super expressive right out of the gate. A wine of total pleasure and seduction, this will drink beautifully with minimal cellaring. Soft, plush contours wrap around a core of red plum, mocha, cedar, espresso and cinnamon. All the elements are so well balanced. Floral top notes and a kick of blood orange perk up the brilliant finish. This is such a classy, polished wine—an especially fine Alter Ego. The blend is 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot."
Antonio Galloni, April 2026, Vinous.com
"Beautiful deep plum colour, so juicy and mouth watering, with a real energy and momentum, blueberry, cherry pit, love the powerful concentration and sense of lift through the palate, and things really grip as it opens and unfolds. 20hl/h, as with everywhere, 3.65ph, harvest September 8 to 24."
Jane Anson, April 2026, JaneAnson.com
"Quite a spiced notes on the nose, really aromatic, a little toasted with cinnamon, cedar, dried herbs, some florality and blackcurrants. Smooth and creamy with a crushed velvety aspect to the tannins which fill the mouth and create a soft cushioning of texture from which the ripe but also cool blueberry aspects widen. Quiet, calm, still massy with power and muscles but well integrated and not shouting. It’s certainly juicy and mouthwatering with a crystalline blueberry aspect. Great purity but still with this wide frame and quite firm liquorice spiced edges. Lots going on here. More Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend than Merlot. 15% press wine. "
Geogina Hindle, April 2026, Decanter.com
"(Margaux; 53% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; 13% alcohol; tasted with Tomas Duroux at Palmer). This sparkles and is interestingly different, with notes of cordite, struck match, incense and a little blueberry alongside the more familiar black cherry, black raspberry and cassis. There's a touch of cedar, a lot of graphite and a load of class! And grated - and reassuringly expensive - black chocolate for good measure. The late August rain was essential to allow this to attain full phenolic maturity. This is intense, yet very gentle and almost polished on the attack, focused and pure through the mid-palate, with that purity conveyed by the dark berry freshness drawn up from below vertically and well-sustained on the finish. "
Colin Hay, April 2026, DrinksBusiness.com