The
wines of Bernard Magrez
Part 5: Château Pape Clément, Pessac-Léognan
After the
portfolio tasting, we checked into Pape Clément, which as a place
to stay, offers tasteful, period-style luxury. Very nice.
Named after its
most famous owner, Pope Clément V, Pape Clément is the most
illustrious property in the Bernard Magrez portfolio. It’s located
in Pessac, close to the city of Bordeaux. But it isn’t one of his
recent acquisitions – in fact, he started started managing this
property back in 1985 in conjunction with co-owner Léo Montagne. [Magrez
told me that it is 10% owned by his father-in-law, and 90% by him
– I’m assuming from this that Montagne is Magrez’
father-in-law.]
There’s a story
of two consultants here. The property was bought by Léo’s father,
Paul Montagne in 1939, and the revival of its fortunes was largely
down to the intervention by famous consultant winemaker Emile
Peynaud. Magrez’ intervention, which has elevated Pape Clement to
new heights – where it is competing successfully with the very
best in Bordeaux in blind tastings – is in large part through the
help provided by the most famous Bordeaux consultant of today,
Michel Rolland. And Pape Clément has done incredibly well in the
blind tastings of the respected Grand Jury European, regularly
beating first growths – although it could be argued that the Grand
Jury have collectively a slightly ‘new world’ sort of palate
that seems to favour riper, more modern wines.
Total vineyard
area is 32.5 hectares, split 30 red and 2.5 white. Reds are 60%
Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, with the latter planted in the soils
richer in clay. Vine density is very high (7700–9000
vines/hectare). Vines are trained double Guyot with three buds left
on each cane.
Winemaking is in
small lots, with a large number of small wooden fermentors employed.
Remarkably, all the bunches are hand destemmed, a process that is
labour intensive and adds about 2 Euros to the cost of each bottle.
For the reds, the free run juice goes to barrel via gravity flow.
Quality, as you’d expect, is impeccable.
The sorting tables where the grapes are hand destemmed
Château
Pape Clément Blanc 2006 Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux
A blend of
45% Semillon, 35% Sauvignon, 5% Sauvignon Gris and 5% Muscadelle. Very
richly textured with bold fruit and a hint of oak. The palate is
concentrated with a hint of grassy, citrussy freshness and lots of
richer, more tropical fruit. Nicely judged: a weighty white. (11/08)
Château
Pape Clément 2006 Graves, Bordeaux
Deep
coloured. Concentrated, sweet, intense dark fruits nose. Pure
blackcurrant/blackberry fruit with spice and roast coffee notes. The
palate is dense and concentrated with nice freshness, quite a bit of
oak and firm tannins. Fresh, spicy and rich with lovely focus. There
are also some gravelly notes. Lovely focus and freshness. 93/100
(11/08)
The two Château
Pape Clément 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon cask samples, showing the
difference between regular barrels and a special barrel called ‘X
blend’.
(1) Radoux, high
quality barrel.
Dense, chocolatey and spicy with a hint of roasted character. Nice
tannic structure. Quite bold and lovely. The tannins stick out a bit
more than in (2).
(2) Radoux ‘X
blend’ barrels, which are ultra high quality and cost 1200 Euros
each. Just three were used. Super structure here: a bit finer with
lovely density and super-fine but firm tannins. Amazing.
Vertical
tasting of Château
Pape Clément, Pessac-Léognan, held in London, March 2009:
Château
Pape Clément 1986 Pessac-Léognan
Yield 46 hectolitres/hectare, blend is 37% Merlot, 63% Cabernet
Sauvignon. Open, evolved sweet nose shoring gravel, spice and
liqueur-like cherry fruit notes. The palate is open and sweetly
fruited with elegant, evolved spicy fruit and some earthy
undertones. Delicious. 92/100
Château
Pape Clément 1988 Pessac-Léognan
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, yield 48 hl/ha. Sweetly
evolved earthy, spicy nose is nicely defined with some gravelly
freshness. The palate is elegant and expressive with sweet plum and
cherry fruit and some earthy structure. Nice open character to this
wine, which is drinking well now. 93/100
Château
Pape Clément 1995 Pessac-Léognan
Yield 47 hl/ha; 40% Merlot, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dense and
focused with lovely ripe fruit (berries, blackcurrants) backed up by
spicy tannins. Nice tension between the rich fruit and the fresh,
grippy structure. Drinking perfectly now, a lovely wine. 93/100
Château
Pape Clément 2000 Pessac-Léognan (from magnum)
Beautifully balanced and elegant, with focused blackcurrant
fruit subtly framed with minerality and acidity. This beautifully
expressive wine is at the same time delicate and powerful, and
it’s drinking really well now. 95/100
Château
Pape Clément 2003 Pessac-Léognan (from imperial)
Bold, dense, spicy and rich with nice focus to the raspberry and
blackcurrant fruit, with a tarry, gravelly edge. Structured, fresh
and grippy with nice acidity, finishing with some structure. 92/100
Château Pape Clément 2004 Pessac-Léognan
Yield 38 hl/ha; 46% Merlot, 64% Cabernet Sauvignon. Beautifully
focused dark fruits nose with a gravelly, spicy edge – quite pure
and fine. The palate shows density and elegance with taut blackberry
and blackcurrant fruit with some spicy structure. Sophisticated oak
influence. 94/100
Château
Pape Clément 2005 Pessac-Léognan
Yield 38 hl/ha; 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon. Focused
bright, fresh fruit here. Plums, cherries to to the fore, with
firmer structure than other years and a taut, grippy finish. Not in
a flattering phase at the moment. 92/100
Château
Pape Clément 2006 Pessac-Léognan
Yield 40 hl/ha; 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon. Lovely
tarry, spicy, subtly minty blackcurrant and berry fruit nose. Lovely
aromatics. The palate shows lovely depth of fruit, and is focused
and fresh with a spicy finish. Reminds me of a really good Margaret
River Cabernet. 93/100
Château
Pape Clément Blanc 2005 Pessac-Léognan
An impressive white Bordeaux. Rich, rounded and textured with
lovely melon and herb fruit. Bold and rounded with a hint of
grapefruit. Sophisticated stuff with a subtle pithy, herby finish.
92/100
Also
in this series:
Wines
tasted as indicated; visit was in 11/08
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