Château Pape Clément is a renowned wine producer located in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of Bordeaux, France. With a rich history dating back to the 13th century, the vineyards have been producing high-quality wines for centuries. The traditional style of production focuses on producing wines that reflect the unique terroir of the region, with a variety of grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels for up to 18 months.
Château Pape Clément produces a range of wines, including red, white, and rosé. The red wines are the most famous and are known for their complexity, depth, and aging potential. The flagship wine, Château Pape Clément Rouge, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is aged in oak barrels for up to 18 months. The white wines are made from a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes and are aged in oak barrels for up to 12 months. The rosé wine is made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes and is aged in oak barrels for up to 6 months.
Overall, Château Pape Clément is a producer of exceptional wines that reflect the unique terroir of the Pessac-Léognan appellation. Their traditional style of production and focus on quality have made them one of the most respected wine producers in Bordeaux.
Blended of 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Pape Clement has a deep garnet-purple color and quite a serious, earthy nose with truffles, tilled soil, underbrush and smoked meats over a cassis, baked plums and redcurrants core plus a touch of lavender. Medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy, the palate is built like a brick house, supporting muscular black fruit and earthy notions and finishing very long and mineral laced.
The 2015 Pape Clement is blended of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, matured in 80% new and 20% one-year-old French oak barrels for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple, it opens with profound notes of crushed red and black currants, black cherries, and cassis with touches of mocha, baking spices, menthol and lavender plus a hint of new leather. Medium-bodied, firm, and concentrated with tons of tightly wound black fruit and earth layers, it has a grainy frame and refreshing lift on the long finish.
The 2014 Pape Clement has quite a potent bouquet with lavish red cherry, kirsch, iodine and pastille-like scents, the oak probably needing another couple of years to fully integrate. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine line of acidity, quite refined and focused with appreciable tension towards the finish that comes laden with succulent, tobacco-infused blackberry fruit. This is a sumptuous and yet refined Pape-Clement that demonstrated the most matière or substance out of all the Pessac-Léognan 2014s that I tasted, except for the Haut-Brion. It is certainly a wine destined for a long future.
The iconic 2012 Pape Clement is a candidate for near perfection as well as one of the wines of the vintage. 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 embers and spice followed by velvety, well-integrated tannins, the wine is lush, expansive, savoury and profound. This is a remarkable wine that could be drunk at a reasonably young age but should cellar brilliantly for a quarter-century.
The 2011 Pape Clement, a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, was aged 18 months in new French oak before being bottled unfiltered. Absolutely profound, with a complex bouquet of mulberries, black cherries, black currants, graphite and subtle smoke and burning ember-like aromas, this is a true super-star of the vintage. It represents a remarkable achievement by the winemaking team of Bernard Magrez. Full-bodied, rich and multidimensional, this wine clearly transcends the entire vintage. It should age effortlessly for 25 years.
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Pape Clement comes wafting sensuously from the glass with fragrant notions of dried roses, Chinese five spice and sandalwood over a core of kirsch, warm cassis and plum preserves plus a touch of cedar chest. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is finely crafted with a firm line of ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the perfumed fruit through the incredibly long finish.
Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Pape Clement struts flamboyantly out of the glass, featuring beautifully opulent preserved black fruits, Morello cherries and Chinese five spice with underlying notions of truffles, iron ore and tobacco plus a waft of sandalwood. Full-bodied, the voluptuous fruit has a firm foundation of super ripe, grainy tannins and bags of freshness supporting layer upon layer of black fruit, exotic spices and earth-laced flavors, finishing very long.
One of the top successes of the vintage, this blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot was harvested between October 8 and 24. The late harvest ensured perfect ripeness as evidenced by the sweet bouquet of black cherries, lead pencil shavings, cassis and subtle barbecue smoke. Well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins, medium to full body and a layered mouthfeel, this excellent 2008 can be drunk now and over the next 15+ years.
One of the top successes of the vintage, this blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot was harvested between October 8 and 24. The late harvest ensured perfect ripeness as evidenced by the sweet bouquet of black cherries, lead pencil shavings, cassis and subtle barbecue smoke. Well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins, medium to full body and a layered mouthfeel, this excellent 2008 can be drunk now and over the next 15+ years.
Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Château Pape Clément 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 Clément that will give much pleasure over the next 20 or 30 years.
Château Pape Clément is a renowned wine producer located in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of Bordeaux, France. With a rich history dating back to the 13th century, the vineyards have been producing high-quality wines for centuries. The traditional style of production focuses on producing wines that reflect the unique terroir of the region, with a variety of grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels for up to 18 months.
Château Pape Clément produces a range of wines, including red, white, and rosé. The red wines are the most famous and are known for their complexity, depth, and aging potential. The flagship wine, Château Pape Clément Rouge, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is aged in oak barrels for up to 18 months. The white wines are made from a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes and are aged in oak barrels for up to 12 months. The rosé wine is made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes and is aged in oak barrels for up to 6 months.
Overall, Château Pape Clément is a producer of exceptional wines that reflect the unique terroir of the Pessac-Léognan appellation. Their traditional style of production and focus on quality have made them one of the most respected wine producers in Bordeaux.
Owned by Bernard Magrez, this great terroir a few miles from Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion has produced one of the superstars of the vintage. A blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, Pape Clement’s 2005 has an opaque purple color and smoky barbecue and chocolaty notes intermixed with cassis and blackberries. There is also some underlying minerality in this full-bodied, super-concentrated wine, which has wonderfully sweet, well-integrated tannins. This majestic, multidimensional wines is one of the great, great wines of the vintage. It should drink well for at least another 25 years.
Eager to improve on what he has already achieved, owner Bernard Magrez continues to craft one of the most impeccably crafted wines in Pessac - Léognan . The 2004 vintage presents a fragrant bouquet of gooseberry, chocolate , tobacco and leather. On the palate it is surprisingly textured and rich, with hints of plum and smoke, as well as still-present fruit freshness, a long finish and soft tannins. A great deal of work for a perfectly finished wine!
This complex, dark garnet/plum-tinged wine reveals some bricking at the edge, and its beautiful, smoky, meaty nose exhibits notions of sweet currants, black cherries, and licorice. Medium to full-bodied and fleshy with low acidity, sweet tannin, and an expansive mouthfeel with no hard edges, it is a fully mature 1990 that should drink well for another decade. In my opinion, the Pape Clement vintages from 1998 onward are even more impressive and deeper. Moreover, they possess greater longevity.
