The clarity to this wine is impressive. Wealth of dark-plum and black-fruit essence not to mention orange citrus. Everything is dialed up to the limit here but then dialed in on the palate. Such impressive depth and suave, ripe, fluid tannins that deliver impressive length. Great wine. Such polish. Superb. Try from 2022.

As with the white, the 2015 Château Pape Clément is up at the top of the hierarchy and is a tour de force in Red Bordeaux that should be snatched up by readers. Coming from a 50-hectare parcel of the gravelly soils and harvest between September 25th and October 15th, it’s a blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc that saw a long maceration (30-40 days) and 18 months in 80% new French oak. With a deep ruby/plum color and awesome notes of currants, black cherries, truffles, chocolate and graphite, this beauty hits the palate with a massive, full-bodied, opulent, sexy, yet never heavy style. With terrific concentration, perfect balance, and ripe tannin, as well as plenty of oak, give bottles 4-5 years of cellaring and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades. Tasted three times.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2015 Pape Clement Rouge is a little closed to start before sashaying out with beautiful notes of black cherries, mulberries, and creme de cassis, plus hints of Chinese five spice and unsmoked cigars. The full-bodied palate delivers concentrated black fruit preserves flavors, with loads of spicy accents and velvety texture, finishing with great length. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

With a solid depth of color, it is easy to find the layers of dark, deep, sweet, ripe, lush, velvety, juicy fruits. Full bodied and concentrated, the wine shows sensuous textures and a smoky, dark cherry, licorice, truffle and chocolate edged finish. This is good now, and with time, it has all the right stuff to age into an even better wine. Give it at least 12 years in the cellar. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2015+Pape+Clement+

The 2015 Pape Clement, a blend of 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and a “few” bunches of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, has a very pure and seductive bouquet with cranberry, blackberry, cedar and graphite, plusher than its peers but well defined with a sense of succulence that Pape Clement often conveys in great vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannin, finely boned Pessac-Léognan with a complex, lightly spiced finish laced with tobacco and white pepper, a hint of clove on the aftertaste. This is a terrific Pape Clement that is showing much more sophistication and class than say, the 1998 Pape Clement that I tasted alongside. However it deserves a decade in bottle to show what it can really do. Chapeau!

The 2015 Pape Clement is blended of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, matured in 80% new and 20% one-year-old French oak barrels for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple, it opens with profound notes of crushed red and black currants, black cherries and cassis with touches of mocha, baking spices, menthol and lavender plus a hint of new leather. Medium-bodied, firm and concentrated with tons of tightly wound black fruit and earth layers, it has a grainy frame and refreshing lift on the long finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Dense and concentrated, this wine is fully structured and also has great fruit. It is dense, showing the ripeness of both tannins and fruit in this vintage. It will power through its development to be a very fine wine from 2025.

Ripe and lush, with flashy anise, apple wood and mocha notes forming the frame and ample cassis, cherry paste and plum sauce flavors at the core for balance. Shows lots of sweet spice details through the finish, with the apple wood edge holding sway for now. A bold, glossy version that will please fans of the style after some time. Best from 2022 through 2035. — JM

A vintage where the temptation for Magrez to push hard on the pedal must have been hard to resist, but they have got the balance well executed here - yes it's big and won't alienate Pape Clement followers, but there is some lovely fresh juice that seeps in between the tight, bristling brambly fruit. It's very good quality and will clearly age well. Still with the heavy glass bottle though, surely time to change that! Read more at http://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/bordeaux/chateau-pape-clement-pessac-leognan-bordeaux-france-2015-18279#C325VqeCX06LsJiR.99

Fragrant turmeric and black pepper spice, dark and brambled fruit, this is pretty classic Pape Clement, intense and concentrated, ageing rather beautifully with a juicy signoff. Expect a 2015 with swagger and estate signature. Bernard Magrez owner, Michel Rolland consultant. Harvest September 25 to October 15.

The 2015 Pape Clément is one of my favorite vintages from this decade in an era when they were producing full-throttle wines that could sometimes overwhelm. But this has a lovely, high-toned bouquet, with plush red fruit -tinged with cigar smoke and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied, fleshy and savory in style. I might deduce this to be a Pomerol, but it remains a more sophisticated Pape Clément that is drinking beautifully now and will age in bottle. -- Neal Martin