2018 Pape Clement
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Tasting Notes
This is a very driven Pape Clément with fantastic density and finesse at the same time. Linear and driven, the finish goes on for minutes with incredible tension and focus. More cabernet. Refinement with power.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
From Bernard Magrez’s flagship estate, the 2018 Château Pape Clément checks in as a tentative blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that will spend 18 months in 60% new French oak. This ripe, full-bodied, opulent beauty knocks it out of the park and boasts a saturated purple color to go with a monster bouquet of cassis and blackberry fruits intermixed with notes of smoked earth, graphite, spicy oak, and spring flowers. Possessing ripe, silky tannins (and plenty of them), remarkable purity of fruit, a stacked mid-palate, and a great, great finish, it ranks in the top tier in the vintage, and despite having the fruit to drink nicely in its youth, it’s going to age effortlessly. It might very well be the finest wine from this estate in the past decade or more.
The 2018 Pape Clément is dense, powerful, and brooding. In most vintages, Pape Clément is much more showy and inviting, but the 2018 is in no mood to show all of its cards. Instead, we find a Pape Clément that explodes with vertical intensity and lift. Captivating scents of gravel, smoke, leather, tobacco, chocolate and incense add layers of complexity. I can't wait to see how the 2018 ages. Today, it is super expressive. The blend is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. New oak is 45%. Tasted four times.
About the producer
Among the oldest estates in Bordeaux, Ch. Pape Clément has been guided into the modern era by Bernard Magrez, who has managed the estate since 1985. It makes some of the best reds in the region.