(JD 95-97 points) The 2023 Château Pape Clément is based on 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Its deep purple hue is followed by a beautiful array of red and black fruits, smoked tobacco, subtle leather, and savory herbs. It's not massive, but it’s medium to full-bodied, with a supple, elegant mouthfeel, seamless tannins, and just about flawless balance. Pure class with its overall balance and finesse, it should shine right out of the gate yet still have 25+ years of overall longevity. Tasted three times.

(JL 95-97 points) Deeply colored, the wine is packed with tobacco leaves, black with red fruits, herbs, espresso, and spices. The nose is cleaner due to the reduction in the amount of new oak used for the aging. Lush, lifted, and long, there is a nice vibrancy to all of the ripe fruits that lingers on the palate. The key to the vintage here was the work during the growing season, warding off mildew, and a lighter touch in the extractions, as well as introducing the addition of native, wild yeasts in the vineyard. All of that led to a more modern, vibrant style of wine here, that is easily noticeable in your glass. Aging takes place in 40% new, French oak, amphora, and foudres. The wine blends 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc. 13.4% ABV. 3.81 pH. The harvest took place September 5 – October 3. Drink from 2026-2055.

(VN 95-97 points) The 2023 Pape Clément is one of the most exciting wines I have tasted here in a long time, maybe ever. Intensely aromatic and layered, the 2023 is simply stunning. Dried flowers, mint, licorice, mocha, cedar and tobacco soar out of the glass. The purity of the flavors is simply mind-blowing. Plum, pomegranate, blood orange and spice build in the glass, adding notable textural richness and resonance. This is the first vintage vinified with indigenous yeasts. Aging takes place in a combination of concrete tanks, ceramic eggs, Clayvers, 400-liter barrels and 225-liter barriques. For readers who want to taste the “new” Bordeaux, this is it. What a wine! Tasted four times. -- Antonio Galloni

(TWI 93-95 points) The 2023 Pape Clement has a deep garnet-purple color. The nose is very shut down to begin, needing a lot of shaking to wake up notes of stewed plums, crème de cassis, and blueberry preserves, plus suggestions of tar, licorice, dried herbs and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate is bright and juicy, textured by fine-grained tannins, finishing with impressive tension and length. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

(WA 92-94 points) The 2023 Pape Clément evokes aromas of dark wild berries, spices, licorice and mulberries, followed by a medium to full-bodied, round and ample palate with structuring tannins and a firm, concentrated mid-palate that segues into a long, fruity finish. Less oaky than the previous years, this is a more contemporary expression of this great terroir. It's a blend of 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. - Yohan Castaing

Inky depths to the plum colour; as is often the case with Pape Clement even under the new regime of the past few vintages where new oak has been lowered. Delivers an exuberant, confident estate signature, supple texture, roasted black cherry and cherry pit, cocoa bean, espresso, a cushion of air helps give a lift on the finish to what is a fairly highly charged architecture. 35hl/ha yield.