Full ruby-red. Superripe, highly complex aromas of plum, cocoa powder, tobacco and warm stones. Big, plush and chewy, with compelling sweetness and generosity of texture to the flavors of plum, minerals, tobacco and woodsmoke. Has the sheer stuffing to support the serious, building but noble tannins. Finishes with superb palate-staining persistence. This may well shut down in bottle, and should age well for the next two decades, but it's a knockout right now.

The 2006 Chateau Pape Clement has an intense bouquet that is very well defined, adorned with cassis, blueberry and subtle iodine scents that all gain momentum in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, very well-judged acidity, the new oak neatly enmeshed and blessed with a precise, harmonious finish that lingers. This is a wonderful Pape Clement that will give much pleasure over the next 20 or 30 years.

A ripely smooth, polished wine, the new wood a major constituent of its character. It has a severe structure, dark and concentrated, but the texture of the very ripe fruit is rounded, jammy, giving a more generous potential.

Dark in color. Blackberry, coffee and milk chocolate aromas follow through to a full body, with lots of chewy tannins, ripe fruit and polished wood. This needs time to come together, but it's very powerful.