1997 Chateau Pape Clement (6 L - Imperial)Colour : Red Producer : Chateau Pape Clement Country : France Region : Bordeaux Sub Region : Pessac Leognan Variety : Proprietary Blend Vintage : 1997 Capacity : 6 L Imperial Tasting Note : Picture in your mind a combination of cedar, lead pencil, blackcurrant, plum and mineral aromatics, and texture that caresses your palate like a playful lover. The experience is thrilling from the first whiff to the final seconds of a tannic, generous finish that

Spectacularly perfumed

the 1989 Haut-Brion wafts from the glass with a rich bouquet of blackberries

acacia honey and the haunting granite mineral character of the Ermite terroir

Utterly mouthfilling

but it will always be less charming and accessible than the 2000

though the vintage’s warmth placed it somewhat below the exceptional 2019 and 2022 in terms of critical consensus: the wine-searcher aggregate of 93/100 across approved publications for the 2018 Auslese confirms its respectable but not outstanding position relative to the estate’s finest vintages

Skyline is one of the most structurally demanding sites in the Rhys portfolio and its wines require several years of bottle age before their full complexity reveals itself

It is a generous and fleshy wine on the palate supported by a minerality that brings purity and power

The palate is full and round

From magnum

but I think this is superior and will be in the future

from which the clear glass is melted