Château Palmer 2016 “Ten Years On” is a late-released, ex-château bottling of Palmer’s Margaux grand vin, held back for a decade and then released in 2026. It comes from a growing season that produced one of the estate’s most praised modern wines, and it also marks an important period at Palmer: the estate was “being fully farmed biodynamically at this point,” as Jane Anson notes, even if certification came later.
The blend is classically Palmer—47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot—built for scale and longevity. Multiple critics describe a wine that couples Left Bank structure with Margaux perfume. Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate) highlights an “opaque garnet-purple” wine with “blueberry compote, warm cassis and kirsch,” plus “violets, cigar box [and] black tea,” finishing with “epic length.” Antonio Galloni (Vinous) calls it “certainly one of the most opulent Left Bank wines,” with “sweet but never cloying” fruit and acidity that “maintain[s] tension.”
Several reviews are outright excellent, led by Jeb Dunnuck’s 100-point score, calling it “the finest vintage I’ve ever tasted from this estate,” a “magical effort” that is “incredibly concentrated and powerful” yet “glides over the palate,” and capable of aging “for half a century.” Jane Anson is nearly as emphatic at 99 points, saying the wine “showcases the power and concentration of the vintage,” and, after air, “a slow unroll reveals layers of cassis, bilberry, cigar box, graphite… cocoa bean, espresso and gunsmoke.” Decanter (98) underlines Palmer’s signature texture—“richness, depth and silkiness”—with “pencil-lead, liquorice, damson, black cherry and slate,” and a “smoky cocoa bean finish.”
At this ten-year stage, James Suckling (98) finds it “compact yet expressive… layered and persistent,” and still a clear candidate for further cellaring, even if it is “approachable with some aeration.” For a more conservative view, Wine Spectator (94) calls it “a very solid rendering,” with graphite and tobacco detail and a long drinking window.
