98pts James Suckling

Stunning concentration of perfectly ripe blackcurrants here with a delicate whiff of vanilla oak and extremely fine tannins that are almost perfectly integrated on the seductive and delicate palate, right through the almost literally breathtaking, super-long and very polished finish. Try from 2022.

97pts Jeb Dunnuck

Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2016 Château Pape Clément never failed to disappoint, offering a huge, powerful, full-bodied personality as well as beautiful notes of cassis, graphite, high-class cigar tobacco, asphalt, and graphite. About as sexy as it gets in the vintage, with silky tannins and loads of fruit, it’s perfectly balanced and has a great finish. The 2016 is a blend of 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, all raised in 60% new barrels.

96pts The Wine Independent

The 2016 Pape Clement has a deep garnet color. It features scents of vibrant baked plums and crème de cassis, with suggestions of garrigue, charcoal, forest floor, and violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with juicy black fruits, supported by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and spicy.

96pts Wine Spectator

This takes a slightly different tack than many of its Pessac colleagues, relying less on bramble and tar and more on alluring toast, with mocha, anise, wood spice and black tea notes draped liberally over the core of sappy kirsch and cherry preserve flavors. Plush and suave through the finish, though this needs a bit of time for the wood elements to be fully integrated with the fruit. For fans of the flashier, cashmere-textured style. Best from 2023 through 2037.

96pts International Wine Review

The 2016 Château Pape Clément is an absolutely brilliant wine in this vintage, with the final blend consisting of 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. This utterly captivating red being with inviting aromas of blackberries and dark cherries woven together with fresh cut florals, tobacco, fresh savory herbs, licorice and a subtle hint of beautifully integrated new oak. On the palate this is medium-plus bodied with outstanding overall structure and a gorgeous textured mouthfeel. It continues to impress as it shows remarkable elegance and precision from start to finish. This certainly has the potential to become a classic vintage for Pape Clément. However, typical of the vintage, this will require at least a few years of additional bottle age before it begins to show its best.

96pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Blended of 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Pape Clement has a deep garnet-purple color and quite a serious, earthy nose with truffles, tilled soil, underbrush and smoked meats over a cassis, baked plums and redcurrants core plus a touch of lavender. Medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy, the palate is built like a brick house, supporting muscular black fruit and earthy notions and finishing very long and mineral laced.

96pts Decanter

Intriguing wine with an extra layer of aromatics. Floral, leafy, a touch herbal. Great purity allied with fresh acidity and integrated oak. A very fine Pessac. Robert Mathias: A brooding nose, coffee, cedar and dried tobacco. Broad structure with black cherry fruit. Tannins very fine, some warmth on the finish. Tim Triptree MW: Hedonistic aromatics of ripe black cherry, plum and blackberry, complex notes of smoke and cedar, leather, dried meats, tobacco and cinnamon spice. Opulent, ripe, great balance and length. Harmonious, age worthy Pessac. 

95pts Wine Enthusiast

This rich, warm wine offers tannins cushioned within layers of black fruits. It is dense with structure and fruit while also having the freshness and acidity typical of this vintage. The wine will age for several years, becoming richer and more opulent. Drink from 2025.

95pts Vinous

The 2016 Pape-Clément has a more understated but quite compelling bouquet of blackberry, wild strawberry, crushed stone and orange pith aromas. With aeration, it reveals impressive delineation. The medium-bodied palate offers supple tannins. There is a core of licorice-tinged black fruit, but I detect just a soupçon of greenness on the finish, as if one lot did not quite achieve phenolic maturity. Hopefully that will be assimilated with bottle age. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 

94pts Connoisseurs' Guide

Invariably a wine that makes no apologies for ripeness and one that exhibits an extra degree of concentration and fruity richness right from the opening bell, Pape Clément is in fine and familiar form in 2016 and is a broad, liberally filled effort of compelling depth. It is moderately full-bodied, slightly supple feel and carries its ample tannins with a good deal of grace, and, it is, all in all, a complete and eminently collectable wine that ranks with the better bottlings of its appellation.

Tasting Notes

With their smoky and spicy bouquet, the red wines are of an admirable quality and a very characteristic softness. The wine is both concentrated, fine and harmonious, with an aromatic palette as wide as it is precise. The depth and length in the mouth are exceptional. Quality of the terroir, sustained efforts and dynamism have borne fruit bringing Pape Clément to a level very close to that of the premiers crus.

Blend: 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc