1989 Pape Clement
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Tasting notes
Still a saturated ruby-black in hue, the 1989 Pape Clément remains very youthful and goes from strength to strength as it evolves. Offering up a rich bouquet of sweet, smoky berry fruit, loamy soil, black truffles and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with superb depth at the core, ripe but lively acids and a long, penetrating finish. This serious wine is notably underrated.
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More reviews and scores
The 1989 Pape-Clément fails to replicate a superb bottle that I encountered back in 2010, although I do find improvement in the glass. The fragrant, well-defined bouquet presents pressed flowers, melted asphalt, brambly red fruit and orange blossom. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm tannin, plenty of cedar and black pepper; more pencil lead develops with aeration that might lead you to the Médoc. There is good density here, perhaps indicating a Pape-Clément that will benefit from a good decant or indeed, further cellaring. Very fine old-school Pessac-Léognan. Tasted blind at lunch in London.
Elegant and well made. Color is medium-dark ruby. Aromas of dried cherries and licorice. Full-bodied and well structured, with compacted velvety tannins and a long aftertaste of chocolate and fruit and hints of earth.--1989 Bordeaux horizontal. Best after 2004. James Suckling, Wine Spectator 1999
About the producer
Among the oldest estates in Bordeaux, Ch. Pape Clément has been guided into the modern era by Bernard Magrez, who has managed the estate since 1985. It makes some of the best reds in the region.