Michael Schuster: An ample presence to smell; concentrated, beautifully elegant wine, with great density of matter, vigor of acidity, and finesse of tannic texture. Deep, vital, sweet-cored wine; a wonderful combination of ripe black fruit and marked minerality, long and graceful, with super-fine, velvety tannins. Aromatically complex, very long to finish, with the spicy aromatic aftertaste reminiscent of great 1982s. A remarkable completeness and presence of ripeness allied to freshness and concentration! A great, effortless Pape Clément, where you barely notice the new wood until you search for that slightly chalk-dry tannin texture. Powerful, yes, but among the finest recent red wines from this estate. 2020–35+. 17.5/18.5