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Chateau Pape-Clément

Names often evoke history, especially when chateaux proprietors follow the common practice of appending their family name to that of their property; the Brown of Cantenac-Brown, for example, was none other than John Lewis Brown, an ancestor of the artist of the same name who was famed for his equestrian images. Chateau Latour has the same effect, although here the name refers not to a person but to a building, the Tor à St-Lambert, the site of one of countless Anglo-French battles during the Hundred Years' War. The Graves estate of Pape-Clément is another example, and is in fact a rather special one. Here the name is that of Pope Clément V, a French-born clergyman who took the papal office in the early 14th Century, and thus the Pape-Clément property has one of the longest and best documented histories of all Bordeaux chateaux.

Clément V was born into the noble De Goth family who held a seat at Villandraut, to the south of Sauternes. The child destined to be pope was named Bertrand, and he began his career in the church at a young age, so that by 1299 he was made Archbishop of Bordeaux by Pope Boniface VIII. With such a title comes a need for a suitable property, and his brother (who was Archbishop of Lyon) gifted him the La Mothe property close to Bordeaux, between the road to Mérignac (where the airport is today) and the nearby Magonty estate. There was already a vineyard here which De Goth expanded, although not to hugely commercial proportions. In 1305 he became Pope, and with his departure his property in Bordeaux was passed to his successor as Archbishop, Arnaud de Canteloup, although Clément's significance in the history of wine does not end there. Widely regarded by historians as a tool of the French crown, as evinced by his choosing Lyon for his coronation rather than travelling to Italy, by 1309 Clément had moved the papal seat to Avignon. It was for this reason that his successors established a nearby town, known today as Chateauneuf-du-Pape, as the papal summer residence.

Pape-Clement The Bordeaux estate continued as a site of viticulture for many centuries, remaining in the ownership of the church until the Revolution when like many of the properties of noblemen and clergy it was sold off as a bien national. Throughout these long centuries, however, the wine does not appear to have been marketed, and it is likely that production remained modest, the wines reserved for use in the Archbishop's residence and perhaps during mass. This would change after the Revolution, as a succession of owners oversaw the development of the property as a commercial enterprise. Early on in the 19th Century it passed through the hands of gentlemen by the names of Jarrige, De Fortmanoir and Clouzel, before the latter sold the majority of the estate to Jean-Baptiste Clerc in 1858. By this time the estate's reputation was firmly established, and was widely regarded to be second only to Haut-Brion. Nevertheless Clerc was instrumental in improving the estate, expanding the vineyard to 37 hectares, ensuring only the best varieties populated the vineyard, including a little Cabernet Franc; his efforts were rewarded not only by medals from local and national Agricultural Societies in 1861 and 1864, but also by excellent prices. By the time of his death shortly before 1880, the wine of Pape-Clément was selling at a price equivalent to a Médoc second growth.

From Clerc the estate passed to Cinto, who enlarged the chateau, before selling it onto an Englishman named Maxwell, who neglected the estate. The economic and political climates were obviously not favourable, and as World War Two approached the dilapidated vineyard, devastated by hail in 1937, was sold. With the creeping advance of the suburbs of Bordeaux it seemed likely that this would be the end for Pape-Clément, that the vineyard would soon be populated by bungalows rather than vines, but this was not to be. The estate was purloined by a vigneron and poet by the name of Paul Montagne, and following the end of hostilities his plans to revitalise the estate were finally realised. To aid him in his work he engaged the services of Emile Peynaud as oenologist, one of many reasons why the wines of Pape-Clément have been so successful over the years. Today Paul's son Léo has joint-ownership of the estate, having taken on this role with the death of his father at the age of 94, and his partner is Bernard Magrez who also owns La Tour Carnet.

The vineyards today account for 32.5 hectares of the Pessac-Léognan vignoble, with three distinct terroirs across the estate as a whole. Over a limestone bedrock which originated in the Oligocene and Miocene eras, there are the gravels that typify the region as a whole, as well as areas of clay and sand. The vineyards to the west are more sandy, with a deep seam of gravel, whereas as those to the east have an increasingly significant amount of clay, and those to the north of the estate the soils are particularly thin and poor. The red vines, which cover 30 of the 32.5 hectares, are 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, the Cabernet Franc of Jean-Baptiste Clerc having long since disappeared. Here knowledge of the terroir is important, as the former variety is planted mainly to the gravelly areas whereas Merlot is selected for those soils with more clay. The majority of these vines have more than 25 years of age, and many are over 40. The white varieties are 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle. Planting is quite dense, between 7700 and 9000 vines/ha depending on the individual plot, and some areas are grassed over between rows, especially where there are moisture-retaining clay soils where an increase in competition for water can be beneficial for quality of the fruit. The vines are trained using a Double Guyot technique as is common throughout Bordeaux, with leaf-thinning in the summer to improve exposure of the fruit to the sun, and there is also a green harvest to temper yields, which are up to 40 hl/ha for both red and white wines. Harvest is manual, and to ensure the best quality there is selection in the vineyard with several tries through the vines being the norm.

In the chai, the red fruit is destemmed and subjected to further examination and selection, before a gentle pressing and then transfer to vat by gravity feed rather than by pumping. The reds are fermented in oak vats of varying sizes, ranging from 50 to 140 hectolitres, allowing for vinification of small parcels. The must is limited to 29-30ºC during the fermentation, with the temperature reduced a little during a maceration which lasted for up to 35 days, when there is extraction of colour and tannin aided by punching down of the cap. The white grapes are not destemmed, but pressed lightly, and then also fermented in oak, with 70 to 100% of the barrels new each vintage, and regular batonnage to keep the lees in suspension. The wines are blended and then fed by gravity to the barrels where they undergo malolactic fermentation before élevage, up to 20 months for the reds and 12 months for the whites. The resulting grand vin is Chateau Pape-Clément, with about 7000 cases of the red wine and as little as 350 of the white, and there are also second labels Le Clémentin du Pape-Clément and Le Prélat du Pape-Clément.

As always there are those ready to criticise the Pape-Clément of today for the use of technology, for modernisation, for extraction, for monotony as they have seen the style develop over the last one or two decades. Nevertheless it is clear on tasting recent vintages of Pape-Clément that these are superlative wines, with concentration, purity of fruit, texture and yet also elegance. They remain aromatic and exciting on assessment, whilst being rich and yet well defined on the palate. And the white is no also-ran in comparison to the red, here indeed is a fabulously bright and delicious wine which in a successful vintage such as 2006 can be simply stunning. Prices of both red and white wines, however, reflect this quality in a most transparent fashion. (7/8/07)

Contact details:
Address: 216 Avenue de Dr. Nancel Pénard, BP 164, 33600 Pessac
Telephone: +33 (0) 5 57 26 38 38
Fax +33 (0) 5 57 26 38 39
Internet: www.pape-clement.com

Chateau Pape-Clément - Tasting Notes

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2007

Chateau Pape-Clément Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) 2007: A good nutty depth here, this is showing the oak at present, but more importantly there is good fruit depth as well. In fact it is rather brooding in style. A rich palate, rounded and creamy, with rather appealingly gentle acids. Rounded, weighty, impressive wine. From my 2007 Bordeaux primeur assessment. 16.5-17.5+/20 (April 2008)

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2007: A pile of sweet fruit here, lots of sweetness, and lots of oak at present. There is substance here, it is textured, and there is a pile of ripe tannins. Well structured, with a nice presence. There is a lot of everything going on here, which is fairly typical for Pape-Clément. Good. From my 2007 Bordeaux primeur assessment. 15.5-16.5+/20 (April 2008)

2006

Chateau Pape-Clément Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) 2006: Vibrant nose, with passionfruit and grapefruit, fresh and vigorous on the palate, with firm acidity and a very nice composition. Open, expressive, gentle and elegant, yet firm, with a slight toasty edge. Nettly, green and vibrant on the finish. This is excellent. A star wine of the vintage. From my 2006 Bordeaux assessment. 18-19+/20 (April 2007)

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2006: Beautifully pure and open fruit on the palate, fine definition, full and rounded, not quite creamy. A firm grip underneath, a plush fruit texture, very good acidity. It has freshness, but doesn't leap out of the glass. Nevertheless it has a very nice composition and I think this has very fine potential. From my 2006 Bordeaux assessment. 16.5-17.5+/20 (April 2007)

2005

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2005: The nose here is dense and a little reticent, but what character it shows today is dark, dense, meaty and concentrated. Simply lovely style on the palate, pure and seamless yet obviously heavily stuffed. Nevertheless it does have a textured, plush, mouth-filling and perhaps rather soft style which covers the tannins nicely. Broad but well directed. Good grip underneath it all. This has a very impressive style which has great potential. From my tasting of 2005 Bordeaux at two years of age. 18.5+/20 (October 2007)

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2005: CS 45%, M 55%. A really dense colour here, outclassing just about every other wine here. A lovely, lifted, red fruit nose. Simply divine style here, with notes of white flower petals too. This presents a caressing, rounded texture on the palate, but with an elegant style. Rather a masculine feel to the tannins, which are ripe but very firm and solid. This is very well structured, not over-extracted, complex and very fine. Lovely finish. This has just bags of potential. From my 2005 Bordeaux en primeur tasting. 18-19/20 (April 2006)

2004

Chateau Pape-Clément Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) 2004: A lovely, nutty, oily, smouldering nose. Fresh and green too. Plump and yet fresh on the palate, vibrant and vigorous. Rather aristocratic in style, vigorous, with honeycomb oak. This has a delicious style. Very fine indeed. 17.5/20 (April 2007)

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2004: This is exotic, perfumed, deeply fruited, with an attractive pickling spices complexity. Fine texture on the palate, with lots of texture and a lovely extract. The tannins are ripe, rather svelte and peppery, and come with fresh acidity. Tannic finish. This is set up for good development in the cellar. From my 2004 Bordeaux assessment. 17.5/20 (October 2006)

2002

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2002: This is lovely. A firm, classic, gravelly, perfumed wine, with a little spiced fruit. Full, textured, creamy with a soft grip. Gentle but firm, velvety, with a lovely fresh balance. Lovely potential. 17.5+/20 (April 2007)

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 2002: This is stylish, a serious nose, nutty but restrained, gravelly, minerally and slightly perfumed. A lovely presence on the palate, fresh and precise, with a fine balance. Broad and yet elegant, with a lovely concentration too. I think this is lovely and brimming with potential. 17.5+/20 (February 2007)

1985

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 1985: Dense, pure, surprisingly youthful colour. Very classic nose, with good fruit. Open and expressive, meaty, gloriously accessible. This is early maturity. Powerful, smooth, pure, fluid mouthfeel. Firm sweet fruit backed up by plenty of tannic structure. Floral aromatics. Lovely wine, with great potential. From a Graves tasting. 17.5+/20 (October 2004)

Chateau Pape-Clément (Pessac-Léognan) 1985: This is a dark red wine with a tawny hue. Stylish nose, full of fruit with some toffee character. Very firm and muscular on the palate, with sweet, tarry fruit. Great tannins which lie in the background providing structure. Good acidity. Well balanced. From a Bordeaux 1985 tasting. 18/20 (September 2002)