1988 Château Pape Clément

Community Tasting Notes (88) Avg Score: 91.7 points

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  12/18/2023 - ankitmehra Likes this wine: 94 Points

  I’ve been on a Graves kick lately with the 1998 vintages of Domaine de Chevalier and Château La Mission Haut-Brion and thought why not keep the ball rolling with the 1988 vintage of Château Pape Clément. Popped and poured at 67 Pall Mall, I was initially a bit worried after a bit of quiet nose and palate, but after about half an hour this wine came to life. The nose was extremely tertiary, representing Graves well, as scents of smoke, tobacco, moss, forest floor, and leather all dominated the blackcurrant. The palate, though, was what showed how much life is left in this wine. This wine was extremely well integrated, bringing in notes of redcurrants and red cherries in the upfront before cassis, earth and licorice hit in the mid-palate. The finish brought in tertiary qualities of tobacco, graphite and pencil shavings over a silky ending, but what surprised me was how big the body of this wine was after so long! A great wine drinking extremely well right now.

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  7/6/2023 - SpitzNV Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Capsule stuck to the cork which had evidence of seepage so I was a bit concerned opening this one. Used the Durand and the cork was fortunately still in good shape. Claret color with a touch of bricking on the rim. Alluring nose of damp forest floor, cedar and tobacco. Would have thought Pauillac if tasted blind. In the mouth it's pleasantly bright with acidity, medium-light bodied and surprisingly fresh for a wine this age (35 years!) Red currant is most prominent on the palate with the long finish moving into herbes de Provence. Can't see this improving much. I'd drink up.

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  4/26/2023 - Dionysos55 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Le millésime du renouveau du château après des années de vache maigre 60%CS 40%M Robe évoluée.Bouquet intense et complexe,d'abord ce côté fumé typique de l'appellation,suivi de notes de cèdre,tabac,cassis,vanille,forêt.La bouche est de type demi-corps,très élégante qui se termine relativement courte.Tanins complètement fondus.Beau vin avec quelques lacunes qui l'empêchent de monter dans les hautes cotations: structure légère,creux en milieu de bouche,finale relativement courte.Le nez est par contre splendide.

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  4/17/2023 - Purple Tooth wrote: 93 Points

  A super expression of Bordeaux full of secondary notes. Extrodinary healthy bottle, leaning into a mid weight body with a beautiful healthy shining color of claret. Its just a joy to look at this wine in the glass. Amazing what time has done to what is typically a heavy handed producer, and how it has polished this into a diamond.
  Its pretty easy to pick this out as a 88'er because of that typical green bell pepper profile, but then again, it might even take you to an 82 with the elegance this wine showed. Loads of cedar, cocoa and chocolate notes, singed tobacco, and excellent acidity, grip, and length. Points to Pauillac and possibly even a Mouton from a lean vintage. This is done aging and its ready to go. Started decline after 3 hours, so its time...DRINK

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  3/14/2023 - PoyferrAgent1998 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Dusty, earthy, smokey nose. Dry, tannic, sweet red fruits, raisins, tobacco and pepper. Concentrated and powerfull, still needs some oxygen to open up, but it generally lacks finesse and grandeur. I guess the fruit will not outlive the tannins.

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