wine details
reviews
James Suckling 94-95Pape made a very finely crafted and elegant wine this vintage, with plenty of berry, spice and earth character. Medium-bodied. Savory and lightly spicy on the finish. Creamy tannins.
Wine Advocate 91-94
The 2021 Pape Clément exhibits notions of sweet berries and cherries mingled with rich aromas of espresso roast, black truffles, toasty new oak and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, deep and quite extracted in style, it's a rich, fleshy wine that gained in integration and harmony over the the three weeks I spent in Bordeaux. Tasted three times. William Kelley
Jancis Robinson 15
60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cask sample. Ridiculously heavy bottle! Not much nose. Thick palate that almost seems to be fizzing. Then nothing much on the pinched finish. There seems to have been a (rather unsuccessful) attempt at concentration which has left an unbalanced wine with a hole in the middle. Drink 2027 - 2040. Jancis Robinson MW
Vinous 91-93
The 2021 Pape Clément was picked from 28 September until 14 October matured for a planned 18 months in 90% French oak and 10% in the foudres introduced in 2018. It is a completely diametrically opposite style to the previous vintages, partly a result of Michel Rolland handing the reins over to his right-hand man, Julien Vilaud, who has always had a different winemaking philosophy. On the nose: blackberry, sous-bois and cedar, not austere yet certainly a more reserved style. The palate is framed by quite gritty tannins, fine acidity, fresh and saline with modest depth on the finish that feels a little austere. Tasted several times, this is a fascinating, perhaps divisive Pape-Clément that might throw a few accustomed to its style of yore. One you have to get to really understand. Neal Martin