95 points Robert Parker: "One of the top successes of the vintage, this blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot was harvested between October 8 and 24. The late harvest ensured perfect ripeness as evidenced by the sweet bouquet of black cherries, lead pencil shavings, cassis and subtle barbecue smoke. Well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins, medium to full body and a layered mouthfeel, this excellent 2008 can be drunk now and over the next 15+ years. Drink: 2011-2026. (May 2011)"
94 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The 2008 Château Pape Clément checks in as a blend of 48% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with the balance tiny amounts of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. I wrote in my notes that the nose alone was worth the price of admission, and this beauty has awesome complexity in its smoky tobacco, black fruits, truffly earth, and underbrush notes. It picks up some cold fireplace and graphite notes with time in the glass, and on the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered, nicely concentrated, and balanced. It’s drinking well today, but this beauty is going to keep for another two decades.Drink: 2019-2039. (2/28/19)"
94 points Stephen Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Full, saturated bright ruby. Restrained but captivating aromas of black fruits and minerals. Big, sweet, broad and mouthfilling, with terrific purity to the dense flavors of black fruits and licorice. Really builds and spreads out on the back half, finishing with suave tannins and lingering dark cherry and mineral perfume. Utterly seamless, highly concentrated wine with captivating sweetness, but there's nothing over the top about this beauty. (Jul 2011)"
94 points (18/20) La Revue du Vin de France: "Impressively dense and rich, the 2008 red displays opulent, ripe (almost candied) fruit, and its abundant tannins guarantee a very bright future. (2013)"
93+ points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 2008 Pape Clément has a perfumed bouquet with blackberry, boysenberry, pencil lead and black olive scents, just a subtle estuarine element coming through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a fine bead of acidity, quite dense and muscular but retaining delineation. My one quibble is that the oak just feels a little too conspicuous towards the finish, so give it another 4 to 5 years. (Tasted at the château and at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual vertical tasting.) Drink: 2022-2035. (Feb 2018)"
93 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2008 Château Pape Clément is a very impressive example of the vintage and a wine that I much prefer over their more seductive and overtly oaky 2009. Here, the 2008 vintage has provided a backbone in the Pape Clément that harkens back to some of my favorite past vintages from this estate (and I have an awful lot of this estate’s wines in my cellar dating back to the 1986 vintage), and while the wine is decidedly more new oaky in profile than those great wines in the ’86 to ’95 stretch, this is still a very good bottle in the making. The nose is deep, beautifully complex and not too marked by its new wood, as it offers up scents of red and black cherries, Cuban tobacco, a classic touch of nuttiness, gravelly soil tones and a potpourri of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish and very suave on the attack, but with good reserves of fruit at the core, very impressive nascent complexity and most impressive length and grip on the ripely tannic and beautifully balanced finish. It will take a good eight to ten years for the new wood to be fully integrated here, but there are no issues with ultimate balance and this will be a very lovely wine at its apogee. 2018-2040. (Sep/Oct 2012)"
94 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The 2008 Château Pape Clément checks in as a blend of 48% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with the balance tiny amounts of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. I wrote in my notes that the nose alone was worth the price of admission, and this beauty has awesome complexity in its smoky tobacco, black fruits, truffly earth, and underbrush notes. It picks up some cold fireplace and graphite notes with time in the glass, and on the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered, nicely concentrated, and balanced. It’s drinking well today, but this beauty is going to keep for another two decades.Drink: 2019-2039. (2/28/19)"
94 points Stephen Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Full, saturated bright ruby. Restrained but captivating aromas of black fruits and minerals. Big, sweet, broad and mouthfilling, with terrific purity to the dense flavors of black fruits and licorice. Really builds and spreads out on the back half, finishing with suave tannins and lingering dark cherry and mineral perfume. Utterly seamless, highly concentrated wine with captivating sweetness, but there's nothing over the top about this beauty. (Jul 2011)"
94 points (18/20) La Revue du Vin de France: "Impressively dense and rich, the 2008 red displays opulent, ripe (almost candied) fruit, and its abundant tannins guarantee a very bright future. (2013)"
93+ points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 2008 Pape Clément has a perfumed bouquet with blackberry, boysenberry, pencil lead and black olive scents, just a subtle estuarine element coming through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a fine bead of acidity, quite dense and muscular but retaining delineation. My one quibble is that the oak just feels a little too conspicuous towards the finish, so give it another 4 to 5 years. (Tasted at the château and at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual vertical tasting.) Drink: 2022-2035. (Feb 2018)"
93 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2008 Château Pape Clément is a very impressive example of the vintage and a wine that I much prefer over their more seductive and overtly oaky 2009. Here, the 2008 vintage has provided a backbone in the Pape Clément that harkens back to some of my favorite past vintages from this estate (and I have an awful lot of this estate’s wines in my cellar dating back to the 1986 vintage), and while the wine is decidedly more new oaky in profile than those great wines in the ’86 to ’95 stretch, this is still a very good bottle in the making. The nose is deep, beautifully complex and not too marked by its new wood, as it offers up scents of red and black cherries, Cuban tobacco, a classic touch of nuttiness, gravelly soil tones and a potpourri of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish and very suave on the attack, but with good reserves of fruit at the core, very impressive nascent complexity and most impressive length and grip on the ripely tannic and beautifully balanced finish. It will take a good eight to ten years for the new wood to be fully integrated here, but there are no issues with ultimate balance and this will be a very lovely wine at its apogee. 2018-2040. (Sep/Oct 2012)"
| Product SKU | 328506 |
| Producer | Pape Clément |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Varietal | Cabernet/Bordeaux Blends |
| Vintage | 2008 |
| Size | 750ml |
| Color | Red |
| Blend | 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot |
| ABV | 13.5% |
| Ships To |
