2011 Palmer is produced from the lowest yields since 1961. Part of those low yields emanate from the use of optical sorting, which is not the normal practice for Palmer.
After 2009 and 2010, John Kolasa is happy to have produced a wine with lower alcohol with more freshness and balance. This will also allow the wine to age better for Rauzan Segla.
Jean Luc Zuger spent more time sorting this difficult vintage in the vineyards and cellars. Zuger agrees 2011 lacks the density of 2009 and 2010, but feels the wine is as good as, or better than 2006 and 2008.
Emmanuel Cruse did not compare 2011 with 2010, his personal favorite, 2009, or 2005. However, Cruse felt 2011 d’Issan better than other recent years, for example, 2008, 2006 and 2004.
The fruit took more effort to work with this year. It was the first time we experienced bunches with ripe, green and pink fruit, along with berries attacked by botrytis.
We had to be careful not to over extract. We needed to maintain cooler temperatures during fermentation and reduce the amount of pumping over we did in years like 2009 and 2010.
