Château PAPE-CLEMENT 2018

Description

Jeb Dunnuck 95-97 points www.jebdunnuck.com
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. Tasted on three separate occasions.

Jean-Marc Quarin 96 points www.quarin.com
Couleur sombre, intense et belle. Nez intense, au fruité fin, mûr et subtil. Moelleux à souhait à l’attaque, fondant et parfumé au développement, avec du corps, du goût, le vin s’achève long, sur des tannins fins et très, très bons. Assemblage : 66 % cabernet sauvignon, 30 % merlot, 4 % cabernet franc. Degré d’alcool : 13°5 – pH : 3,65.

Antonio Galloni 93-96 points www.vinous.com
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.

Yves Beck 94-95 points www.yvesbeck.wine
Pourpre violacé. Le bouquet de Pape Clément commence par révéler son élevage au travers de notes de fèves de cacao. Je relève également des griottes et des baies noires. La mise en bouche est friande et rafraîchissante. Le corps est équilibré, quelque peu onctueux et doté d’une structure qui soutient l’expression aromatique. Finale fruitée et persistante. 2024-2038

Monica Larner 96-98 points www.robertparker.com
This wine is a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc to be aged for approximately 18 months in oak barriques, 60% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Pape Clement is a little closed, slowly unfurling to reveal fragrant earth, crushed rocks, iron ore and tobacco notions over a core of crushed red and black currants plus kirsch, red roses and Ceylon tea. Full-bodied and wonderfully vivacious, it offers a solid line of firm and fine-grained tannins and amazing freshness, finishing very long and mineral laced.

Jane Anson  95 points  www.decanter.com (at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 30 Mar 2019)

I love watching how Pape Clement is evolving with every vintage. There’s still a bit of Venice Beach in its muscles but it has let some juice in between the firm tannins and it’s all the better for it. There are ripples of freshness here too, with lots of fleshy fruit, and a slatey mineral finish that sits against chocolate and smoked cedar notes. It’s clearly been carefully extracted yet still has the serious ageing ability and sense of confidence that is the signature of the property. 37hl/ha yield in 2018. Two-thirds new oak. Drinking Window 2026 – 2042