Professional ratings
- Jeb Dunnuck: 98/100
- James Suckling: 97–98/100
- Antonio Galloni (Vinous): 95–97/100
- Wine Advocate (Parker team): ~92–94/100
- Jane Anson: ~93/100
- Wine Spectator: ~94/100
Typical range: 93–97 pts (top end nearing 98 from Suckling/Dunnuck)
Tasting profile (critic consensus)
- Style: dense but fresher, more linear than past vintages
- Aromas: cassis, blackberry, plum, licorice, graphite, spice, floral lift
- Palate: full-bodied, concentrated core, polished tannins
- Finish: long, mineral, slightly spicy with modern refinement
- Oak/use: noted as less overtly oaky than previous years, more transparent fruit expression
Drinking window
- Start: ~2028–2032
- Peak: ~2032–2045+
Bottom line
2023 Pape Clément is a highly rated, modern-style Grand Cru Classé:
- strong 98-point ceiling (Suckling/Dunnuck)
- most critics cluster around 95–96 points
- combines power + finesse + improved freshness
98 Points Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2023 Château Pape Clément has a deep purple hue as well as a sensational perfume of cassis, darker berries, crushed stone, graphite, violets, and subtle smoky tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, pure, and layered on the palate, it has polished tannins, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. It’s a classic, seamless Pape Clément that already offers pleasure yet has the structure and depth to evolve for 30 years. Drink 2026-2056.
95-97pts Vinous
The 2023 Pape Clément is one of the most exciting wines I have tasted from here in a long time, maybe ever. Intensely aromatic and layered, the 2023 is simply stunning. Dried flowers, mint, licorice, mocha, cedar and tobacco soar out of the glass. The purity of the flavors is simply mind-blowing. Plum, pomegranate, blood orange and spice build in the glass, adding notable textural richness and resonance. This is the first vintage vinified with indigenous yeasts. Aging takes place in a combination of concrete tanks, ceramic eggs, Clayvers, 400-liter barrels and 225-liter barriques. For readers who want to taste the "new" Bordeaux, this is it. What a wine! - Antonio Galloni
95-97pts Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Château Pape Clément is based on 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Its deep purple hue is followed by a beautiful array of red and black fruits, smoked tobacco, subtle leather, and savory herbs. It's not massive, but it’s medium to full-bodied, with a supple, elegant mouthfeel, seamless tannins, and just about flawless balance. Pure class with its overall balance and finesse, it should shine right out of the gate yet still have 25+ years of overall longevity. Tasted three times.
93-95pts Vinous
The 2023 Pape Clément is the first vintage fully employing crème de levures, using native yeasts in the vineyard to start the fermentation and improve balance, together with two native yeasts regularly employed since 2012 (to maintain some consistency). It was picked from September 5th to October 3rd and matured in 60% new oak, including foudres. The 2023 is cut from a very different cloth compared to recent vintages. It's much more classic in style, almost reserved, with tightly wound black fruit mixed with briar and light gravely scents. The palate is medium-bodied with a light entry, just a pinch of spice and moderate depth. The silky, peppery, finish is more tertiary than you would expect to find on what was once a bombastic Pessac-Léognan. One sample had a soupçon of herbaceousness, whilst another at the château had none at all. Very fine. This will be interesting to revisit after bottling. - Neal Martin
93-95pts The Wine Independent
The 2023 Pape Clement has a deep garnet-purple color. The nose is very shut down to begin, needing a lot of shaking to wake up notes of stewed plums, crème de cassis, and blueberry preserves, plus suggestions of tar, licorice, dried herbs and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate is bright and juicy, textured by fine-grained tannins, finishing with impressive tension and length.
92-94pts Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pape Clément evokes aromas of dark wild berries, spices, licorice and mulberries, followed by a medium to full-bodied, round and ample palate with structuring tannins and a firm, concentrated mid-palate that segues into a long, fruity finish. Less oaky than the previous years, this is a more contemporary expression of this great terroir. It's a blend of 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
93pts Jane Anson
Inky depths to the plum colour; as is often the case with Pape Clement even under the new regime of the past few vintages where new oak has been lowered. Delivers an exuberant, confident estate signature, supple texture, roasted black cherry and cherry pit, cocoa bean, espresso, a cushion of air helps give a lift on the finish to what is a fairly highly charged architecture. 35hl/ha yield.
93pts Decanter
With aromas of blackberry, plum and crushed tobacco offering promise, I feel that the palate comes across a touch over extracted, with tannins coming to the fore. The good news is less new oak, so that the estate aims for balance, but perhaps the 2023 vintage here is not ideal? In any case, while I appreciate the intensity of the palate, I feel that one should be more conservative until after the bottling, to see the extent to which the barrel ageing will soften the palate.
92-93pts James Suckling
The density of fruit grabs your attention, showing fullness and richness with blue fruit and a hazelnut undertone. Chewy at the end of the polished and solid palate. Structured young wine.
