Chateau Pape Clement
Pessac-Léognan
Cru Classé de Graves
Château Pape Clément owes its name to Bertrand de Goth, who succeeded Benedict XI as Pope. He took the name of Clement V and moved the papal court to Avignon in 1309, leaving behind his vines in Pessac.
Today, Pape Clément is the most prestigious estate belonging to Bernard Magrez. The vineyard is divided into three large plots with different soil types, but mainly consisting of gravel, clay, and some asteriated limestone. Pape Clément's terroir also contains a high level of iron, which may explain its smoky bouquet in certain vintages.
Patrice Hateau and his team treat each vineyard plot as separate entities in order to obtain perfect ripening. Green cover is used throughout the vineyard, including specially selected grasses to enhance competition with the vines and naturally reduce their vigor (and, consequently, yields).
Since 2001, almost obsessive care is taken in sorting and destemming the grapes by hand during the vintage.
Since 2007, Pape Clément has had a new vat room housing 28 wooden vats with a capacity from 30 to 70 hectoliters each, as well as a highly-efficient sorting table. The cap is periodically punched down in order to extract the purest possible juice and the grapes are pressed very slowly and gently, without breaking up the press cake. The must goes directly into barrel via gravity flow. The solid matter in suspension is precipitated thanks to cold settling in a special temperature-controlled room.
Pape Clément also produces a few barrels of a very well-reputed dry white wine which is fermented in barrel and regularly stirred with a stick (bâtonnage).
WINE PRODUCED BY THE ESTATE
Pape Clément, Le Clémentin du Pape Clément (second vin), Le Prélat du Château Pape Clément
COMPARISON WITH AOC - PESSAC-LÉOGNAN
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TASTING NOTES
Dark purplish-red color.
Explosive fruit (blackcurrant, wild strawberry, and raspberry) with earthy and oaky overtones.
Exuberant on the palate with phenomenal volume, tight texture, and fruity purity. Splendid mineral taste beautifully reflecting its terroir. This wine is fruity from beginning to end. This is probably the result of rigorous sorting during picking.
A wine for hedonists and probably one of the best quality/price ratios in the 2001 vintage.
