Pape Clément 2015

Tasted blind. Sweet and round and succulent – a wine that, for once among Graves 2015s, has fruit and lusciousness enough to stand up to the tannins. Really rather glorious.Drink 2024-2038

Deepish crimson. Seductively ripe damson fruit. Rich and chewy, full-bodied and firmly structured for the long term. Much better balance than some previous vintages I have tasted. (JH) 14.5%Drink 2025-2040

Ripe on the nose the palate has a fleshy richness supple in the middle. There is balance with bramble freshness behind the rich ripe black plum and although full and ripe on the back palate the finish is lighter and fresher.

Massively inky and powerful, but ever so moreish and chewy, this is an example of a potentially over-the-top wine which manages to keep its feet on the ground and capture the essence of the vintage and also its property very accurately.

The 2015 Pape Clement is blended of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, matured in 80% new and 20% one-year-old French oak barrels for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple, it opens with profound notes of crushed red and black currants, black cherries and cassis with touches of mocha, baking spices, menthol and lavender plus a hint of new leather. Medium-bodied, firm and concentrated with tons of tightly wound black fruit and earth layers, it has a grainy frame and refreshing lift on the long finish. 2022 - 2042

The 2015 Pape Clement, a blend of 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and a “few” bunches of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, has a very pure and seductive bouquet with cranberry, blackberry, cedar and graphite, plusher than its peers but well defined with a sense of succulence that Pape Clement often conveys in great vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannin, finely boned Pessac-Léognan with a complex, lightly spiced finish laced with tobacco and white pepper, a hint of clove on the aftertaste. This is a terrific Pape Clement that is showing much more sophistication and class than say, the 1998 Pape Clement that I tasted alongside. However it deserves a decade in bottle to show what it can really do. Chapeau!

The 2015 Pape Clement is a blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. It was cropped at 40 hl/ha between 25 September and 15 October with berry by berry destemming. It has a drop-dead gorgeous bouquet that continues the ever greater finesse that has been imparted into this Pape-Clément in recent years. It is extremely precise, almost crystalline. The palate is underpinned by fine tannin, pitch-perfect acidity, a sense of cohesion and harmony that is outstanding. There is not a hair out of place on this barrel sample and it will doubtless evolve into one of the best wines this state has produced since the 14th century, when Bertrand de Goth was planting its first vines. This comes highly recommended - a Pape-Clément that will reward those who can resist temptation and cellar this wine for 10+ years. Tasted on four separate occasions.

Shows amazing depth of fruit with fabulous polish and length. Electric acidity. Full body, very integrated and refined tannins. Phenolic finesse shows here. Great finish. It lasts for minutes. Best young Pape Clément I have tasted. Grows in the glass.

Very dark. Sweet yet fresh - very beguiling initially but maybe a little overdone. Intense and almost as though concentrated. Rather dry on the end. Hard work on the end.Drink 2024-2034