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95+ JG. "I had not tasted the 1961 Pape Clément in a few years, and this was clearly one of the best examples of this brilliant wine that I have ever tasted (not that I have had the wine on more than a handful of occasions previously). The bouquet is deep, vibrant and stunning, offering up classic Graves notes of blackberries, black truffles, chipotle peppers, layers of soil tones and a topnote of violets. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, refined and laser-like in its focus, with all of the elegance and intensity of flavor that are the hallmarks of the 1961 vintage. The finish is very, very long, seamless and utterly brilliant, with still a touch of remaining tannin that promise to carry this wine down the road with great style for several more decades. 1961 Pape Clément is not one of the châteaux one immediately thinks of when the greatness of the ’61 vintage is discussed, but it is clearly one of the absolute stars amongst the stellar constellation of 1961 claret. It has years and years of life still ahead of it." John Gilman, View From the Cellar #41, Oct 2012 |