2000 Pape Clement
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While the 2000 Château Pape Clément doesn't match the 2005 or 2010, it's nevertheless a brilliant wine in every way. Fully mature, with incredible aromatics of red and black currants, new saddle leather, smoked tobacco, and that classic Graves scorched earth character, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a lively, elegant mouthfeel, beautifully integrated and resolved tannins, and a lively spine of acidity that keeps it light on its feet and vibrant. There's no upside to additional cellaring, but it probably has another decade of prime drinking and a gradual decline thereafter.
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Plum aromatics, soft ruby red heading to tawny around the edges. This has welcoming campfire smoke aromatics, with tar and earth, plenty of mint leaf freshness through the finish. You can find younger-feeling 2000 wines, as this was such a compact, tannic vintage that has proved stubborny slow ageing in many cases, but Pape Clement is located in a warm spot close to the city of Bordeaux, which means grapes reach full ripeness easily and may have contributed to it ageing a little more quickly. Yields were low (both naturally and through crop thinning) at 31.5hl/h, and the wine was aged in 100% new oak barrels. Harvest September 28 to October 10, 31.5hl/h, Michel Rolland consultant.
The 2000 Pape Clément is a vintage that I last tasted in 2010. Now at 21 years of age, it shows little sign of aging on the rim. The bouquet is perhaps less advanced, demonstrating fewer secondary aromas, compared to its peers, and featuring mulberry, camphor and touches of fig and damson that blossom in the glass. It becomes quite feral, maybe even slight bretty, with aeration. The palate is very malleable on the entry, quite rich and dense, velvety-smooth and yet missing some tension and grip on the finish. This is a thoroughly enjoyable Pape Clément that could probably give 15–20 years’ more drinking pleasure, though I aver that more recent vintages dig deeper into the terroir. Picked September 28 to October 10 at 31.5hl/ha and matured in 100% new oak.
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.