Château Pape Clément, Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2012
A noticeable oak influence is present in the 2024 Pape Clément, yet some bright fruit struggles to emerge. Currently, the tannins are overly assertive, dominating whatever fruit there is. One hopes these tannins will resolve during élevage. The finish offers glimpses of sweet strawberries and a mineral undertone.
critic reviews
The 2012 Pape Clement is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet colored, it charges out with plum preserves, blackcurrant pastilles, and raspberry leaves scents with touches of cedar chest and bay leaves. Medium-bodied, with juicy black fruit coating the mid palate and soft tannins, it finishes with a lively lift.
The 2012 Pape Clément has quite a high-toned bouquet with liquorice-infused red fruit, violet and camphor emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe tannins, high-toned and slightly volatile towards the heady finish. This needs calming down. After tasting blind at Southwold, a second bottle at the Bordeaux Index did nothing to alter my view about this Pessac-Léognan.
Tertiary notes of leather, earth, truffle, blueberry and raspberry fruits. Enjoyable, but more evolved than the last time I tasted this vintage ex-cellar. It's an enjoyable wine, soft and sappy, and easy to recommend. 100% new oak, Michel Rolland consultant.
The iconic 2012 Pape Clement is a candidate for near-perfection as well as one of the wines of the vintage. From proprietor Bernard Magrez, this is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. This extraordinary vineyard (a few miles to the west of Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion) has hit all the highlights of this vintage. Interestingly, the quality of the Pomerols and Graves wines in 2012 is closer to what one would consider a great vintage than the general image of 2012. This is truly great wine and not far off their magnificent 2005 and 2010. Full-bodied, with rich cassis, subtle burning embers and spice followed by velvety, well-integrated tannins, the wine is lush, expansive, savory and profound. This is a remarkable wine that could be drunk at a reasonably young age, but should cellar brilliantly for a quarter-century. Yields were modest at 37 hectoliters per hectare from this 132-acre estate. The alcohol level came in at 13.5%.