Wild strawberries, red plums and wood on the nose. Some iodine and shells, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, fine and polished tannins. Juicy and savory. A little tight now. A blend of 80% merlot and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Try after 2024.
94 points, James Suckling (Mar 2021)
Emerging from the team at Haut-Bailly, the 2018 Château Le Pape is mostly Merlot from deep, gravelly soils brought up in 20% new French oak. It's a classic Graves offering loads of gravelly earth and tobacco as well as chocolate black cherry fruits, medium to full body, a rounded, beautifully textured mouthfeel, integrated tannins, and a great finish. It's going to shine in 2-4 years (it's far from unapproachable today) and keep for 10-15 years.
93 points, Jeb Dunnuck (Mar 2021)
Ripe and structured, but succulent as well, with very juicy but youthfully compact blackberry and black currant fruit tightly wound with lacings of licorice, apple wood and tar. There is ample freshness and coiled energy though, so just give it a little time. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2023 through 2035. 833 cases made.
92 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Jan 2021)
Welcoming berry fruit aromas make it clear that this is extremely concentrated. There are excellent floral and fruit aromatics that layer up over each other, and its power is latent. It's hard to ignore as it widens and deepens through the mid-palate. Brambly black fruits join tannins that build to the finish, making this a pretty serious Le Pape. 30% new oak. 3.87pH versus 3.85pH in 2009, so pretty high, which helps give this a luxurious feel although it lacks a little typicity. Hail affected 4ha out of the 9ha which, combined with mildew, meant a yield of 21hl/ha.
92 points, Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)
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