An Evening with Chateau Palmer
This November
We are delighted to welcome Chateau Palmer to Adare Manor for an exclusive and extra-special wine dinner in our Wine Cellar on Wednesday 17th November.
Commencing our wine events again for the first time in two years, we begin with one it will certainly be hard to surpass — an exclusive evening exploring the elegant and aromatic, great Bordeaux wines of Château Palmer of Margaux.
This is also our first event to be held in our Wine Cellar, an area that usually only hosts private events, with extremely limited seating.
On 17th November from 6.45pm, Charles Sichel, co-owner of Château Palmer, Chris Myers, Export Director of Château Palmer, and Ron Forrestal of Forrestal Wine Merchants will introduce some of the splendid wines of this excellent producer to a select audience of wine lovers.
Accompanied by a carefully created menu designed by Mike Tweedie, chef of our Michelin-starred Oak Room, guests will enjoy eight different wines from Château Palmer with a six-course dinner by chef Tweedie where two dishes will be paired with side-by-side vintages from different years of the same wine — a fascinating study in the development and expression of these complex, age-worthy wines.
Guests will begin with snacks of Dooncastle oyster with smoked yoghurt and marinated salmon roe, and a tartlet of venison and beetroot, accompanied by Champagne Gosset Grande Réserve Brut NV, followed by the starter of tartare of Goatsbridge trout and oscietra caviar which is paired with Vin Blanc de Palmer 2019, a rare wine termed a ‘unicorn’ by wine critic Neal Martin. A blend of Muscadelle, Loset and Sauvignon Gris, very few cases are made and only a couple of cases make it to Ireland each year.
The raviolo of quail, cep, truffle and cep consommé is served with the ‘other side’ of Château Palmer; Alter Ego de Château Palmer — a wine produced by the same team and from the same vineyards as Château Palmer but made to be drunk much earlier. There are two vintages of Alter Ego served with this dish, from 2011 and 2017, where Merlot is the dominant grape variety, making it supple and ready to open within three years of each harvest, a great wine with intense fruit, fresh and juicy, with super silky tannins.
Sea bass, artichoke, morteau sausage and lemon thyme jus will be partnered with Château Palmer 2006, a superb Margaux with a sumptuous, elegant nose with hints of coffee and liquorice, and a smooth cassis palate with a nice mineral complexity, creamy mocha hints and a long, pure finish.
Aged beef with celeriac and pepper jus is also served with two vintages of the same wine — Château Palmer 2000 and 2011. The 2000 vintage with 96 points from Decanter has been described as “Dense, powerful, complex, with a menthol-laced finish… Now at 20 years old, and absolutely singing… The tannins are ripe but rich and still broad-shouldered, and it will probably still show at its best with a good plate of food to draw out the mouthwatering acidities.” The 2011 vintage is described as “…an excellent one to be reminded of at the 10-year window. Layers of blueberry, plum, cassis and rosemary, sculpted and heavy on the rose and violet floral aromatics that speak of its appellation. As it opens, the smoky notes become more evident, and this is sensuous but reflective of a cooler summer… absolutely singing and ready to go.”
Dinner ends with passion fruit and 70% Valrhona chocolate accompanied by Toro Albalá, Don PX, Montilla-Moriles, Spain 1999, followed by tea, coffee and petits fours.
There are only 10 seats available at this exclusive dinner, with a non-resident seat available for €325 per person and an overnight stay for two guests sharing a deluxe room with breakfast and two seats at the event available for €1,175.
For guests wishing to reserve a place, please contact our team on +353 (0)61 605 200.
About Chateau Palmer
A Rich Wine History
Among the mythic wines of the Margaux Appellation, Château Palmer has always stood apart, as instantly recognisable for its midnight blue label as for its inimitable bouquet, an uncommon blend of power and delicacy. It’s a strength of character drawn from a fabled terroir, and from an ensemble of vibrant personalities who have forged the estate’s identity through history.
Emerging in the 17th century, the estate only became Château Palmer in 1814, when it was acquired by Charles Palmer, a dashing British Major General who instilled his namesake with enough éclat and glamour to see it become renowned throughout London’s aristocratic circles. In 1853, the Péreire brothers, among the preeminent financiers of Napoleon III’s France, brought the rigour and vision needed for Château Palmer to be ranked among the most prestigious classified growths of the 1855 classification. In 1938, a consortium of four leading families in the Bordeaux wine trade acquired the estate, heralding an era of momentous vintages and deep-rooted stability – indeed, Palmer is still owned by the descendants of two of these families.
Today, the men and women leading Château Palmer into the 21st century are rhyming tradition with innovation in their passionate pursuit to capture the subtleties of one of the world’s most legendary terroirs. Palmer’s eminently complex wines, combining aromatic richness and extraordinary elegance with a beguiling velvet texture and remarkable ageing potential, are reflections of those spirited efforts and all that distinguishes this 66 ha estate. A veritable mosaic of soils, a unique vineyard planting of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon subtly enriched with Petit Verdot, and pioneering farming techniques that respect nature’s exquisite equilibrium, together make these wines transcendent expressions of the Margaux appellation.