1998 Château Pape Clément

Deep garnet with a ruby rim. Very glamorous concentration of fruit counterbalanced by appetising freshness. Tannins completely resolved. Served blind, I took it for a Pomerol (I think Michel Rolland would have been the consultant winemaker). Luscious. A very flattering success! (JR)

The 1998 Pape Clément Rouge is a wine that I rounded on in my overview of 1998s although this bottle expresses less of that green trait I noticed before. It has an overtly sumptuous and decadent bouquet that smothers the terroir expression, although it develops purity with time. The palate is laden with rich black fruit, cassis and vanilla, the winemaking more vocal than the terroir or personality and as such, I find this rather betraying the essence of what Pape Clément should be. Thankfully, a change in approach has seen vast improvement in vintages since this was made.

The 1998 Pape Clement has a deep garnet core with a thin tawny rim. The nose is quite backward at first, rather aloof, with tightly wound blackberry fruit laced with cigar box, black olive and a touch of smoke. There is something almost Tuscan about this wine. The palate is very rich on the entry, perhaps excessively so. Sweet, almost cloying fig and dates with a jarring greenness underneath, this comes from a period where I think they were pushing the wine too hard. Frankly, recent vintages have been much better than this and will age in far superior fashion. Tasted at the château.