A trademark application submitted by Chelsea footballer Cole Palmer has been blocked by Bordeaux producer Château Palmer. However, a second famous wine producer sharing the sportsman’s name tells db it’s untroubled.
Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer has submitted an application to trademark his famous ‘shivering’ goal celebration and nickname ‘Cold Palmer’ for a range of goods. However, Bordeaux producer Château Palmer has moved to oppose the footballer’s application in case any subsequent products are confused with its own brand name.
As well as toiletries and clothes, the Chelsea star’s application asks for the trademark to allow him to market wine and other drinks using the Cold Palmer name, requesting legal protection for its use on: “alcoholic beverages; alcoholic fruit beverages; wines; spirits, liqueurs; alcoholic energy drinks; low alcoholic beverages.”
Château Palmer, whose older vintages such as the 1961 can sell for more than £1,500 on the secondary market, has lodged an official opposition to the trademark, registered by the footballer in December 2024.
Champagne Palmer
Not all French producers sharing the name Palmer, however, have been moved to take action.
Despite the footballer’s trademark application outlining that it may “include wines complying with the specifications of the PDO Champagne,” Palmer & Co. has not opposed the trademark.
Speaking to db, Champagne Palmer & Co. confirmed: “we are not involved in this matter in any way”.
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It would appear that the maison does not consider Cole Palmer’s trademark to be a threat to its business, which has been going great guns in recent years. In 2023, Champagne Palmer & Co’s managing director and oenologist Rémi Vervier told db in an exclusive interview: “We have a trend of 10%-plus growth per year in volume terms. We are a little bit safer than the others because we are not in cruise control mode, we are in the mode of growth.”
Continuing, Vervier said “it’s about quality of production, quality of business relationships, quality of distribution – that’s so important in terms of the future and the consistency of the brand.”
Which came first? Château Palmer or Champagne Palmer?
Bordeaux property Château Palmer was founded in 1814 when Englishman Major General Charles Palmer purchased the estate and named it after himself. He is thought to have acquired the estate after being seated next to the recently widowed Marie Brunet de Ferrière on a stagecoach journey. Following the death of her husband Blaise Jean Charles Alexandre de Gascq, she was looking to sell the wine estate and was seeking a buyer in Paris. The rest, as they say, is history.
Château Palmer is home to a treasure trove of old Merlot vines, planted in the 1930s “on great Cabernet terroirs”, which the producer believes gives its wines an edge. Based in Margaux, in the Haut-Médoc region of Bordeaux, the property now owns around 66 planted hectares. The estate’s grand vin is Château Palmer, while its second wine is Alter Ego de Palmer. Both are blends of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
Champagne Palmer, on the other hand, was founded in 1947 by seven grower families in Montagne de Reims, an area renowned for Grand and Premier Cru vineyards. The two premiers crus of Villers-Marmery and Trépail, often dubbed the “white pearls” of the Champagne region, are the aces up the sleeve of Champagne Palmer & Co., and play a crucial role in the creation of the house’s two newly released Blanc de Blancs expressions, from the 2018 and 2013 vintages.
the drinks business has approached Château Palmer for comment.
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