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Pape Clément 2008

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Sauvignon

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Pape Clément

Label

Tasting Notes

One of the top successes of the vintage, this blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot was harvested between October 8 and 24. The late harvest ensured perfect ripeness as evidenced by the sweet bouquet of black cherries, lead pencil shavings, cassis and subtle barbecue smoke. Well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins, medium to full body and a layered mouthfeel, this excellent 2008 can be drunk now and over the next 15+ years.

95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (194), May 2011

Very dark purple. Unusually ripe purple berry aromas. Very sweet and luscious and not especially bordeaux but capable of giving lots of pleasure. Fine, dry tannins. Difficult stylistic question, rating this wine. It's almost more right bank than Graves but so long as you know that in advance and aren't expecting a classic refreshing Graves, you could find it rewarding.

16.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2009

Not far off the quality of the monumental 2005, Pape Clement's 2008 was cropped at a lowly 30 hectoliters per hectare. The final blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, and there are approximately 7,500 cases. The 2008 displays a dense purple color as well as a classic northern Pessac-Leognan nose of truffles, asphalt, scorched earth, charcoal, creme de cassis, spice box, and spring flowers. Super-pure and medium to full-bodied with stunning concentration, admirable purity, slightly more acidity than usual, and formidable depth and length, given the sweetness of the tannins and the ripeness of the fruit, this wine should be approachable in 4-5 years, but the vintage's crisp style suggests it will last for 25-30 or more years.The flagship estate of one of the most remarkable men in France, Bernard Magrez, it counts Michel Rolland as their guru-in-chief. The viticultural work is meticulous, with de-leafing and crop-thinning, all the grapes are hand-harvested in small plastic crates, and are destemmed by hand by more than 200 people - unheard of anywhere else in Bordeaux. The wine receives a Burgundian-like punch-down treatment, a month-long maceration, and the wine is moved by gravity (rather than traumatic pumps) through all the different steps of winemaking. It is aged on its lees for nearly a year. For over a decade now, the result has been one of the greatest wines of Bordeaux, clearly a wine of first-growth quality.

94/96
Robert Parker, RobertParker.com (182), April 2009

Tasted ex-château and single blind in Southwold. The Pape-Clement 2008 is noticeably deeper in colour than its peers. The nose is well defined with crisp blackberry, black olive and a touch of warm gravel. The palate is well balanced with quite racy acidity, although the finish has a tininess to it that will hopefully disappear with time (although it caused me to be more parsimonious with my score.) Tasted January 2012.

91
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, January 2012

Very intense and ripe on the nose: black plum, cassis, liquorice and black olive. Extrovert - a hint of tinned fig in the background. The palate is full-bodied, firm tannins, good acidity, structured and perhaps more restrained than the nose suggests. Lovely focus on the plumy, austere finish. Sophisticated and classy but it will take time for those tannins to soften. Excellent. Tasted April 2009.

91/93
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2009
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.