Andrew Jefford | Dark, dense, brooding black-red. And on the nose, too, this is still dark and brooding, with lots of dark plum and damson fruits though as yet little secondary lift: give it time. It’s a somber and dignified ripeness, though, without too much oak sweetening. On the palate, the wine is soft, ample, open, and unforbidding, yet brimming with dark, pure, plum fruits which sing with the inner liveliness of this hugely attractive vintage. As on the nose, the levels of secondary complexity and resonance which will surely accrue with time are not yet apparent, and the wine may merit a higher score when they eventually appear. That, indeed, is the main reason for keeping this Pape Clement, since in purely textural terms the wine is already welcoming. | 92

Michael Schuster | Closed, but subtly gravelly on the nose; rich, midweight wine, fresh in acidity, very fine in tannin; a long, ripe, refined, gravel-infused flavor, very nicely sustained across the palate, and with great length of aftertaste. Class, restraint, completeness. A great, aristocratic Pape Clement! 2030–45+. | 94