Château Pape Clément - Pessac-Léognan 2020 (750ml)
Price: $119.00
| Producer | Château Pape Clément |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | Pessac-Leognan |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Sku | 1006809 |
| Size | 750ml |
James Suckling: 98 Points
Vinous: 98 Points
The 2020 Pape Clément is outrageously beautiful. Dark virile and imposing the 2020 is a rare vintage of Pape Clément that is vertical and statuesque in feel. Dark fruit chocolate new leather licorice and cloves infuse the palate with tremendous depth. In a word: magnificent. - By Antonio Galloni on December 2022
Vinous Media: 98 Points
Jeb Dunnuck: 97+ Points
I loved the 2020 Château Pape Clément and this beauty is up there with the top wines in Pessac. Checking in as equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot aged 18 months in 90% barrels and 10% in foudre it offers a deep purple hue to go with a powerful concentrated profile displaying both red and black fruits lots of spicy chocolate flowery incense nuances full-bodied richness and an almost salty bloody character on the finish. This beauty shows the concentrated yet utterly classic focused elegant style of the vintage and has so much to love. It's going to be even better with 4-6 years of bottle age and will see its 30th birthday in fine form.
Wine Spectator: 95 Points
This is snazzed up with flashy toast but there's ample mulberry cassis and plum compote fruit to soak it up while notes of licorice and sweet spice fill in the background. A late tug of warm earth keeps this grounded. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2028 through 2038.
Decanter: 95 Points
Tannic heft from the get-go though this does have a lovely fresh clean and precise core with a narrow focused frame so the elements come across as quite tight and severe right now but well worked. It has class no doubt on the high-toned scale potent and upfront but there's gorgeous detail and precision to the fruit acidity and tannins. Slick and classy with lots of glamour that plays to the strengths of the vintage. (Drink between 2027-2048)
Jane Anson: 95 Points
Muscular tannins that have grip and staying power exuberant while staying on the right side of the line giving punch and definition without drowning the fruit. Cassis liqourice slate crayon crushed rocks very much on style for Pape Clement and an excellent wine with staying power. Harvest started September 10. Heavy bottle. 60% new oak.
Wine Advocate: 94+ Points
Aromas of rich cherries cassis burning embers violets and dark chocolate introduce the 2020 Pape Clément a medium to full-bodied rich and fleshy wine that's ripe layered and generously extracted but also a touch deeper and more reserved than the flashy 2019. While it would be an exaggeration to say that this estate's red wines are making much of a shift in the direction of restraint the style is certainly less aspirational than it was a decade ago.
The Wine Independent: 94 Points
Deep garnet-purple in color the 2020 Pape Clement is composed of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon 47% Merlot 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. It is wearing quite a lot of oak on the nose at this stage giving way to a powerful core of baked plums and blackcurrant cordial notes plus wafts of Indian spices and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate is laden with lively black fruits and a firm grainy texture finishing long and earthy.
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