LCBO Vintages bordeaux offer

[fresco]

Ontario's Liquor control board is selling a whack of Cheateau Palmer bordeaux from 1945 onwards, prices in Canadian $:

http://lw10fd.law10.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bi...41535&len=51845

V-MAIL - Vintages E-mail Bulletin

*****We have extended the ordering deadline for the Château Palmer

Vertical Offer to Monday, July 21, 2003.

1. VINTAGES SPECIAL OFFER: CHÂTEAU PALMER VERTICAL

Château Palmer has had a reputation well beyond its 1855 ranking

of a Margaux third growth. "Long before anyone coined the phrase

'super-second', one château in Cantenac-Margaux - and a troisième,

not even a deuxième - had already achieved super-second status.

The château is Palmer. The vintage was 1961." (Clive Coates MW,

Grands Vins - The Finest Châteaux of Bordeaux and their Wines, 1995)

Read more about the history of Château Palmer just after the

product list.

THE OFFER

Vintages, in association with Mähler-Besse, present an exceptional

vertical of Château Palmer, including the famed vintages 1961, 1966,

1970, 1983 and 1989.

These wines have been sourced directly from Mähler-Besse. The company

has revived an ancient Bordeaux tradition: putting a neck-label on

each bottle to show the year it left the Mähler-Besse cellars. For

customers, this system guarantees the wine has not been disturbed

since it was originally available for sale. Such provenance is

essential when buying older vintages.

FAX AND EMAIL ORDERING DEADLINE - 5:00 P.M., MONDAY, JULY 21, 2003

Orders will be accepted by fax or e-mail only. Those orders received

before the deadline will be processed in random sequence. To order,

use the attached Excel order form. Ordering starts Friday, June 27, 2003.

****

E-mail ordering: send your completed order to

mailto:vintagesorders@lcbo.com.

For security reasons, please do NOT include your credit card number.

****

Fax ordering: print out the Excel order form and fax it to:

416-365-5777 or 1-800-282-2197.

A Vintages Customer Service representative will contact you

after July 23, 2003 to confirm your order.

A 50% deposit of the total order value is required at time

of order confirmation. The remaining half is due when your

order is ready to be shipped to the LCBO store of your choice.

We will contact you by mail to complete the payment and arrange

for shipping. The wine is scheduled to arrive by November 2003.

Size btls

Product Name (ml) Score Price available

Palmer 1996 750 WS 91 $199 300

Palmer 1996 1500 WS 91 $449 30

Palmer 1995 750 WS 94 $239 300

Palmer 1995 1500 WS 94 $529 30

Palmer 1994 750 WS 89 $149 300

Palmer 1994 1500 WS 89 $349 30

Palmer 1994 6000 WS 89 $1,629 1

Palmer 1993 750 WS 88 $149 300

Palmer 1993 1500 WS 88 $329 60

Palmer 1993 3000 WS 88 $749 3

Palmer 1993 5000 WS 88 $1,399 1

Palmer 1993 6000 WS 88 $1,599 1

Palmer 1992 750 RP 84 $159 120

Palmer 1992 1500 RP 84 $329 60

Palmer 1992 3000 RP 84 $799 3

Palmer 1991 750 RP 87 $189 60

Palmer 1991 1500 RP 87 $439 30

Palmer 1990 750 WS 92 $279 120

Palmer 1990 1500 WS 92 $599 30

Palmer 1990 3000 WS 92 $1,399 1

Palmer 1989 750 WS 95 $439 60

Palmer 1989 1500 WS 95 $1,129 30

Palmer 1988 750 DEC **** $299 120

Palmer 1988 1500 DEC **** $745 30

Palmer 1986 750 WS 94 $299 60

Palmer 1986 1500 WS 94 $745 30

Palmer 1985 750 WS 91 $299 60

Palmer 1985 5000 WS 91 $2,499 1

Palmer 1983 750 RP 97 $539 60

Palmer 1983 1500 RP 97 $1,499 30

Palmer 1982 750 WS 90 $379 60

Palmer 1981 750 WS 89 $179 60

Palmer 1981 1500 WS 89 $399 30

Palmer 1979 750 WS 90 $269 60

Palmer 1978 750 RP 90 $269 60

Palmer 1975 730 RP 90 $269 60

Palmer 1974 730 $179 60

Palmer 1971 730 RP 86 $349 60

Palmer 1970 730 RP 95 $519 36

Palmer 1967 730 RP 87 $219 24

Palmer 1966 730 RP 96 $1,249 24

Palmer 1962 730 RP 91 $1,259 12

Palmer 1961 730 RP 99 $3,359 12

Palmer 1959 730 WS 98 $3,369 6

Palmer 1959 1500 WS 98 $8,299 3

Palmer 1955 730 $6,999 6

Palmer 1945 730 RP 97 $8,419 3

Vintages reserves the right to limit quantities. Prices and

product selection may change without prior notice.

FAX AND EMAIL ORDERING DEADLINE - 5:00 P.M., MONDAY, JULY 21, 2003

A BRIEF HISTORY

The name Palmer dates only back to 1814 when it was purchased

by Charles Palmer, a general in the victorious English army at

the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The property had previously

been known as Château de Gascq.

Clive Coates in his book, Grands Vins, relates in the detail

the myriad connections between the De Gascq family and Bordeaux's

leading figures and estates. Charles Palmer came into the story

quite by chance. While travelling from Lyons to Paris, he met

"an attractive lady, Marie Brunet de Ferrière", widow of the owner,

Blaise Jean Alexandre de Gascq. She was on her way to Paris to

sell the estate to settle the property division according to

French law. Palmer knew a bargain when he saw one and snapped

up the property - second only to Château Lafite declared the widow -

for 100,000 francs.

The rest of Palmer's ascent to glory and then tragic decline is

perfect material for a BBC production. Palmer made enormous

improvements and additions to the estate. But the investments

and a larcenous employee quickly ate up his fortune. He was

forced to sell his estate and moved back to Mayfair, London to

live out his days.

After passing through the hands of the Pereire family from 1853

to 1938, "a consortium of four famous local wines names: Sichel,

Mähler-Besse, Ginestet and Miaihle, bought the property. By the

1980s, the Mähler-Besse family and Sichel & Co. ended up as the

sole owners.

Of Dutch and Bordeaux origin, the Mähler-Besse family has been

associated with great Bordeaux wines since 1892. Anton Frédérik

Elimar Mähler (1869-1952), originally from Arnhem in the

Netherlands, was given the opportunity of taking over his parents

textile business. Instead he decided to work in the fine wine

industry! He set off for Bordeaux and created his own business

in 1892. His eldest son, Henry (1906-1997), began to work for

the company after finishing his law degree. He took over from

his father in 1945 and ran the business until 1994. Franck

Mähler-Besse, Henry's son, was the third generation to work in

the family business and currently manages the company.

The storied estate has had many excellent figures, including

the late Alan Sichel, who steadily improved its reputation.

The Mähler-Besse négociant firm has principally been responsible

for its commercial distribution throughout the world. It has a

great reputation for old vintages of Bordeaux, with Palmer as

the centrepiece.

FROM VINE TO WINE

Sixty years of uninterrupted progress have given Palmer a wonderful

reputation. The vineyard land consists of a low rise with Garonne

gravel, in some places four metres deep. Excellent sun exposure,

soil, drainage and microclimate make this estate unique. The

52-hectare vineyard consists of a high proportion of Merlot (47%)

to Cabernet Sauvignon (47%) and Petit Verdot (6%). Robert Parker Jr.

attributes Palmer's "Pomerol-like richness, suppleness, and generous,

fleshy character" to the high Merlot content. However the wine

possesses considerable ageing potential due to its long maceration

that contributes deep colour, structure and concentration.

Clive Coates comments that "it is never overpowering, never every

full in body, yet it is perfectly balanced; aristocratic and accessible

while still young, it attains in maturity. A soft, generous, almost

velvety character, a bouquet of elegant, rich, complex fruit and finish

of delicate distinction."

Alter Ego de Palmer, born with the '98 vintage, is the other wine

produced by Château Palmer. It has the advantage of being enjoyable

to drink relatively young. Vintages will release the 2000 Alter Ego

in the July 26th release and the 2000 Château Palmer in the August 9th

release.

Edited July 10, 2003 by fresco (log)

[malachi]

That link doesn't seem to work (for me at least).

Edit: not shocking as it seems to be to an email on Hotmail?

Edited July 10, 2003 by malachi (log)

[fresco]

See above.

Edited July 10, 2003 by fresco (log)

[Mark Sommelier]

I have purchased wines from the M-B cellar in the past and found them to be in excellent shape. They offer much more than just Palmer. I bought some 1955 Chateau Latour from them last year. The wine is stunning. They also have some 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild for a mere $9700 a bottle.