Description: Offering intense, crispy and juicy fruits, Alter Ego is a spontaneous uninhibited wine, soft and round as soon as it has finished barrel ageing. Its lush aromas and supple tannins make it a wine that can be appreciated in the first years after bottling.
Jancis Robinson: Published : 07-Apr-2010. Very dark crimson. Very sweet and potent with masses of black fruits. Attractive scent but almost soupy! Big and bold and a sort of cross between New World style and Palmer sinewy influence. Very dramatic. Very round and a little bit inky on the end. Quite aggressive. Falls apart a bit on the finish. A little bit green on the finish. When to drink : 2015 to 2025.
Wine Spectator: Updated: April 15, 2010. Love the gorgeous red fruits in this wine. It seems a little Porty, with prune and blackberry character, but so soft, round and rich. Could use a little more in the center palate, but opulent and generous. A little hot. 50 percent Merlot and 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. —J.S.
Stephen Tanzer: May/Jun 10. By Ian D'Agata. (A blend of 51% merlot and 49% cabernet sauvignon) Ruby-red. Precise aromas of red cherry, blackcurrant, cocoa and minerals. Bright and fresh in the mouth, with luscious flavors of red and black berries. Finishes clean and long, with an obviously inky/flinty note and mounting tannins that will need some time to resolve fully. A very successful Alter Ego.
Decanter: Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, 17.5 pts - "Black red, superb, velvety almost exotic nose, rich and polished fruit with lots of ripe tannins, will open up early but has terrific length and concentration. Drink 2013-20."
Chris Kissack, thewinedoctor.com, 16-17+pts - " The second wine of Palmer. Cabernet Sauvignon 49%, Merlot 51%, 13.7% alcohol and 45% of the harvest. A vibrant but dark hue, a glossy and crimson rim. Lovely nose, dark plums, cleanly presented, a little cream, but overall very attractive. Bright fruit on the start, lots of tannic grip quickly coming in. Ripe but pretty serious tannic backbone here, densely structured. Moderate acidity, there is freshness here, but dominated by that structure. I don't think the weight of the wine quite matches the tannin here. Not on the same level as the 2008 from what I recall."
Neal Martin, erobertparker.com, 91-93pts - "Tasted at the chateau. A lucid purple colour. A blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 51% Merlot, I do not even need to approach the glass to nose this wine. Just under 13.7% alcohol. A sense of controlled opulence here, black plum, a touch of cassis and bilberry, the oak just a little dominant at the moment but that will subsume itself into the wine with time. The palate is full-bodied with seamless tannins, a typically plush, approachable Alter Ego with black cherry, a hint of thyme and white fennel, gentle but insistent grip towards the finish. Tasted March 2010."
Tim Atkin, www.timatkin.com, 93 pts - "This was the first wine I tasted in en primeur week, and what a start it was. Vibrantly coloured and intense, with aromatic, cedar wood and cinnamon notes. The palate is fleshy and textured, with plump, almost sweet tannins, bright acidity and great length. Yet another example of a second wine that is deftly handled by a top château. 10+ years."
Vinification: The fruit is harvested by hand. Vinification is temperature-controlled in cone-shaped stainless steel. The wine is pumped over the skins, which macerate for up to 20 days, and malolactic is encouraged before the wine goes into oak where it spends up 21 months, with regular topping up. It is racked four times in the first year cellar, and blending decisions are also made at this time. In the second year it receives an egg white fining before being bottled unfiltered.
