Wine Advisor
Pape Clement, Blanc 2015
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Description
Pape Clement, Pessac Leognan, Bordeaux, France, Still, White, 2012
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A wine of real beauty and class, the 2015 Pape Clément Blanc has been nothing short of deeply impressive every time I have tasted it from barrel or bottle. Like most of Bernard Magrez's wines, the Pape Clément Blanc is rich, textured and racy in style. Orange peel, exotic white flowers, mint, chamomile and a dash of new French oak infuse this creamy, sensual Blanc. Drink it over the next handful of years. Even with all of its intensity, the Blanc is remarkably vivid. The decrease in Sémillon and a move towards larger format barrels are two of the recent developments with the Blanc. The blend is 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2015 Pape-Clément Blanc has an attractive bouquet of crisp, well-defined Granny Smith apple, shucked oyster shell, Conference pear and light white peach aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The well-balanced palate possesses good depth and enough acidity to lend real tension and energy. It becomes more malic toward the finish, but there is always an underlying richness that imparts a fine peach skin finish. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2015 Pape Clement Blanc is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris picked between 12 and 15 September at 29.5 hl/ha. Around 15% of the production was aged on egg-shaped concrete tanks. The nose is actually more introverted than the deuxième vin at the moment, but the complexity is locked in via shucked oyster shell and citrus notes. The palate is extremely well balanced with a keen line of acidity that imparts tension and freshness. This is a succinctly crafted white Bordeaux, almost understated at first, but it is only when it departs down the throat that its quality become apparent. Like the aforementioned deuxième vin, this comes highly recommended.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2015 Pape Clement Blanc is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris picked between 12 and 15 September at 29.5 hectoliters per hectare. Around 15% of the production was aged in egg-shaped concrete tanks. It puts the Magrez Fombrauge Blanc in the shade on the nose with lovely lemon curd, Cornice pear and white peach notes that blossom in the glass and feel nicely integrated with the new oak. The palate is fresh on the entry with crisp acidity, vibrant with citrus lemon, fresh pear, melon and a subtle saline note toward the finish. Very fine.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 2015 Pape Clement Blanc is blended of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris, fermented in 55% new and 45% one-year-old oak barrels. It aged for 16 months in barrels, with the entire time spent on the fine lees. It has quite a closed, reticent nose featuring ripe peaches, musk perfume and struck flint notes with a suggestion of lemon curd and honeycomb plus a touch of coriander seed. Medium-bodied with a crisp backbone, the intense citrus and stone fruit flavors trail off beautifully into a lingering honeyed finish.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Very impressive pear and dried-peach fruits with very subtle mealy, savory notes. The palate delivers impressive weight, amazing power and depth here. Richness and great prowess. Tight now. Give it three or four years to open.
About the Producer
Chateau Pape Clement is located in the Pessac-Leognan appellation in Graves, Bordeaux, France. The Château has been selected as a Grand Cru Classe de Graves for its outstanding red wines, and also produces very good quality white wines. In 1299, Pope Boniface VIII appointed Bertrand de Goth as Archbishop of Bordeaux. In the same year, Bertrand de Goth received a vineyard called "Mothe" as a gift for his appointment. In 1305, Bertrand Guth was elected as the new Pope and renamed Pope Clement V, hence the name Château Clermont. Leaving Bordeaux, he chose to leave the estate in the hands of his successors as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bordeaux. This succession of bishops continued until the eve of the French Revolution. In the late 18th century, the then Archbishop of Bordeaux was dispossessed of all his property and Château Clermont fell into private hands. After several changes of hands, the estate was purchased in 1858 by Jean-Baptiste Clerc, a Bordeaux wine merchant. In the second half of the 19th century, the château was ravaged by powdery mildew, fungus and phylloxera, but it still produced some of the most acclaimed wines in the world, winning prizes in various competitions. As the 20th century progressed, Château Clermont was affected by natural disasters, economic crises and wars, and its ownership was sold several times. It was not until the 1980s that Château Clermont received its current owner, Bernard Magrez, and the double key, a symbol of papal power, became the hallmark of Bernard Magrez's products. The vineyards of Château Clermont cover 63 hectares of soft and complex soils with a mixture of gravel, sand, clay and limestone, with a subsoil of iron-rich limestone. The vineyard is planted with 55 hectares of red grapes, including 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, and the average age of the vines is 40 years. The vineyard is planted with 8 hectares of white grapes, including 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle, with an average age of 18 years. The vineyards are planted at a high density of 7,700 to 9,000 vines per hectare, thus creating competition between the vines and better ripening of the grapes. With a sustainable approach, Château Clermont Pope insists on pruning, leaf thinning and green harvesting of the vines, as well as managing the vineyards by animal farming and cover crops. Depending on the weather conditions each year, the winery arranges for a harvesting team of 30-100 people to pick the grapes separately from the different plots. In winemaking, Château Clermont Pope uses traditional techniques, supplemented by modern technology, to produce wines of the highest quality. The grapes are de-stemmed by hand in order to preserve the integrity of each grape. For white wines, the fruit is gently pressed using an airbag press before the juice is transferred by gravity to barrels for alcoholic fermentation. For the red wines, the winery controls the fermentation temperature between 29°C and 30°C and the maceration temperature between 27°C and 29°C to better extract tannins and colour, and the whole fermentation process usually lasts around 20-35 days. It is also worth noting that the grapes from different plots are fermented separately in small fermentation vessels to bring out the terroir of each plot and to provide more options for blending. The finished wines are transferred by gravity to carefully selected oak barrels for ageing. The red wines are aged in new oak barrels for 18-20 months, during which malolactic fermentation takes place, while the white wines are aged for 12-18 months, with the barrels kept at a low temperature during the ageing period. No chemical clarification is used during the bottling process. Both the red and white wines of Château Clermont are of excellent quality. The reds have great intensity and complexity, with a distinct smoky and spicy flavour, and are elegant, elegant and balanced.
