2018 Château Pape Clément Grand Cru Classé de Graves
Producer: Château Bouscaut
Region: Pessac-Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux
Country: France
Grapes: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot
Vintage: 2018
ABV: 14%
Vivino: 4.3
Drink By: 2042
Occasional Wine Note: A classic Bordeaux from the Graves region of Bordeaux's Left Bank. We just love the 50/50 Cab / Merlot blend. It's powerful and luxurious. Great dark ripe fruit, chocolate, baking spice, and well-integrated tannins. You can show this one of off for decades!
James Suckling
Critic Score: 98
Lots of blackberry, iodine and crushed stone here. Some black pepper and graphite, too. Full body and medium, fine tannins that have a powdery texture and open in the mouth. So much going on. Iodine and iron undertones with some raw mushroom bring you back for more. Muscular. This is for the cellar. Drink after 2027.
Jeb Dunnuck
Critic Score: 97
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.