CHÂTEAU PAPE CLEMENT
2017 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot. 70% new oak. Rich nose. Extraction on the palate with lots of red and black fruit. Good power and plenty of energy. There is bright intensity, good juice and ripe tannins appear at the end. Cedar in the background. Long finish. Rating: 92-93 L&S (May 2018)
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The 2017 Pape Clément was not touched by the frost and was picked from 15 September to 3 October, manually de-stemmed berry by berry with some of the ripe stems added back into the blend (like Les Carmes Haut-Brion down the road). Malolactic is done in barrel where it aged for 18 months. It offers intense black cherry, raspberry, fig and sous-bois scents on the nose, tightly coiled at the moment with just a hint of cedar and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, a mixture of red and black fruit, touches of cedar and white pepper, leading to a structured and fresh finish that leaves a spicy aftertaste. Classic in style, this Pape Clément will benefit from several years in bottle. Drinking range: 2022 - 2045 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)
The 2017 Pape Clément was not touched by the frost and was picked from 15 September to 3 October, manually de-stemmed berry by berry with some of the ripe stems added back into the blend (like Les Carmes Haut-Brion down the road). Malolactic is done in barrel where it aged for 18 months. It offers intense black cherry, raspberry, fig and sous-bois scents on the nose, tightly coiled at the moment with just a hint of cedar and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, a mixture of red and black fruit, touches of cedar and white pepper, leading to a structured and fresh finish that leaves a spicy aftertaste. Classic in style, this Pape Clément will benefit from several years in bottle. Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)
The current blend of the 2017 Pape Clement is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sings of crushed black cherries, black raspberries and mulberries with hints of lilacs and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied with a firm, grainy frame and wonderful freshness, it possesses great elegance and effortless intensity with a mineral-tinged finish. Rating: 92-94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)
The Grand Vin 2017 Château Pape Clément is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot still aging in 60% new French oak. Harvest ran from the 15th of September to the 3rd of October, and I was able to taste this beauty on three separate occasions. Its deep purple color is followed by a blockbuster bouquet of ripe black cherries, blackberries, blueberries, graphite, and licorice. One of the more powerful, concentrated wines in the vintage, this medium to full-bodied effort has terrific purity of fruit, a mouthfilling texture, and present, ripe tannin. Too many 2017s lack excitement, but that’s not the case here. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following 15+ years. Rating: 94-96 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)
70% new oak. All the fruit this year is from Pessac not from Léognan, whereas normally it is a blend. Black with purple core. Dark and savoury on the nose. Pretty oaky but there's more freshness here and less dense extraction than I remember. Drinking range: 2024 - 2034 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)
This is very dense for the vintage on the center palate and then rolls out on the palate. Full-bodied, tight and tannic. Very polished and refined at the end. Precise. A little more cabernet sauvignon in the blend gives this the tension. Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2018)
This has solid ripeness, with plum and cassis notes flowing through, along with an ambitious oak regimen that results in ample toasted vanilla hints. This clamps down a touch on the finish, but there’s good purity and freshness, with fresh acidity buried within, leaving me optimistic Rating: 91-94 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2018)
The vineyard here is almost equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with small plantings of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The fruit was picked between September 15th and October 3rd. There was a cold pre-fermentation maceration. It has a rather muted nose, but it feels clean and precise, with dark, concentrated and rather desiccated fruit character, showing a little currant note. This comes through on the palate, which shows an open and broad texture, soft, velvety and really quite seductive, and filled with dark and savoury fruits, from black cherry through to sweet currant. A medium-bodied middle, showing a charming presence rather than the hugely confident texture seen in truly great vintages, but it is successfully succulent and fresh, and loaded with midpalate substance and firm grip, the latter element dominating the finish. This is a wine that has made the best of the vintage, with ripeness and fresh, medium-bodied structure. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)
Château Pape Clement
Pape Clement stakes a good claim to being the oldest vineyard in Bordeaux. On his accession to post of Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1299, Bernard de Groth was gifted the land by his brother and planted a vineyard. Five years later Bernard was elected Pope Clement V, from which title the estate takes its name. Too busy with Papal business, the estate was handed over to the Archbishops of Bordeaux who owned it until the Revolution.
The common malaise of 20th Century wars, depression and general decline saw Pape Clement in the doldrums by the 1970's. However, under the ownership of the Montagne family and the stewardship of Bernard Magrez, Château Pape Clement has become one of the leading estates in Pessac-Léognan.