Chateau Pape Clement

The name of this estate came from Pope Clement V, a French-born clergyman who took the papal office in early 14^th century. Today it is under Bernard Magrez. Clement V was born into the noble De Goth family and held a seat at Villandraut, to the south of Sauternes. He began his career in the church at a young age, and by 1299 he had been made Archbishop of Bordeaux by Pope Boniface VIII.

His brother presented him with a property named La Mothe as a gift, which is close to Bordeaux with a vineyard already. In 1305 he became Pope but continued to direct activities at his estate for four more years, and then decided to donate the property to the church before moving the papal seat to Avignon, where his successors established a nearby town known today as Chateauneau-du-Pape, for the summer residence.

In the hands of the church the estate continued as a site of viticulture, and during Revolution it was confiscated and sold off. The wines were not marketed throughout the years, reserved for use in the Archbishop’s residence and during mass. Early in the 19^th century it passed to Jarrige, De Fortmanoir and Clouzel, before the latter sold to a local negociant named Jean-Baptiste Clerc in 1858.

By this time the reputation was firmly established, with the wines regarded as second best after Haut-Brion. Clerc expanded the vineyards to 37 hectares, ensuring only the best varieties are planted, including a little Cabernet Franc. With the good price and profit commanded, Clerc was able to build an elegant chateau.

Jean-Baptiste died before 1880, passing the estate to Cinto, another negociant, who made extensive modifications, including the castellations and ramparts. He sold the property later to an Englishman named Maxwell, and the estate fell into decline, and was later purchased by a vigneron Paul Montagne in 1939.

Paul engaged the service of Emile Peynaud, and revitalized the estate. Upon his death at the age of 94, the estate was passed to his son Leo, but the majority of ownership was taken on by his son-in-law Bernard Magrez, who became involved in the property since 1985. From this estate Magrez went on to acquire dozens of properties in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and USA, including in Bordeaux Chateua Fombrauge, La Tour Carnet and Clos Haut-Peyraguey.

Located very close to the Rocade, the Bordeaux ring road, surrounded by housing on all sides, the vineyards account for 33 hectares in Pessac-Leognan. There are three distinct terroirs with the classic gravels lying over limestone bedrock, but towards the west the soils are sandier, with deep seam of gravel, and to the east with increasing clay along with gravel, to the north the soils are thin and poor.

The red vines cover 30 of the 33 hectares, with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, with the other varieties long since disappeared, with Merlot planted mainly on the clay areas. Since 1990 well over half the vineyard has been replanted, but some vines still are over 40 years old. The white varieties include 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon, 5% Muscadelle and 5% Sauvignon Gris.

Planting density is between 7700 and 9000 vines per hectare, with Double Guyot training. Leaf-thinning is done in summer to improve exposure to sun, and green harvesting to temper yields. The harvest is manual, with the white being picked in several tries, ripe to the point of turning golden contributing to the richer style of the wine, restricting the picking in morning to maintain acidity and freshness.

Red grapes are picked plot-by-plot, with the fruit going into small trays for transport. In the chai the red grapes are destemmed by hand, an unusual practice, with the fruit subject to examination and selection, before gently pressing in pneumatic and then fed by gravity to oak vats for fermentation. Different vat sizes are used, allowing vinification of small parcels, with the must limited to 29-30 degree Celsius during fermentation, then a maceration for up to 35 days, with punching down.

The new wine is fed by gravity to 100% new oak barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation, and then aged for 20 months. For the white, the grapes are pressed lightly and then decanted directly into oak barrels of 70-100% new, carrying out fermentation and elevage, with regular batonnage to keep the lees in suspension, for 12 months.

The wines are fined with egg-white if required before final blending, under the supervision of Michel Rolland. The grand vin is Chateau Pape-Clement with about 7000 cases of red and 350 cases of white, with second labels Le Clementin du Pape-Clement and Le Prelat du Pape-Clement.

I have recently tasted the 2008 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance
Bright and clear, it has deep ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose
Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit of cassis, blackberry, dark cherries and plum, maturity notes of tobacco and savory, animal notes of meaty, sweet  spices of nutmeg, kernel notes of coffee, dairy notes of cream, hints of oak notes of smoke. The wine is developing.

Palate
Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, with medium in alcohol level, it has medium (+) body and medium (+) intensity on flavors of black fruit such as cassis, blackberry, plum and dark cherries, oak notes of cedar, kernel notes of milk chocolate, maturity notes of sweet tobacco, mineral notes of earth. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion
Very good quality Pessac-Leognan showing the true beauty of the Bordeaux left bank, with an intense nose of high complexity, even at a relatively young age, with a good abundance of primary, secondary and tertiary aromas, all in harmony with each other. The palate is of elegance, with the ripe fruit highlighting good concentration and flavors, but accompanying also with all the fine elements of the wine, plus having a fairly long finish. Ready to drink now but the wine can further develop for another 3-5 years.