Château Pape Clément is a
Bordeaux wine
Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...
from the
Pessac-Léognan appellation
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...
, ranked among the ''Crus Classés'' for red wine in the
Classification of Graves wine of 1959. It is the oldest wine estate in Bordeaux,
harvesting
Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
its 700th
vintage
In winemaking, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine ...
in 2006. The
winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...
and
vineyards
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
are located in the commune of
Pessac
Pessac (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest suburb of Bordeaux and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to ...
, south-west of the city of
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
. When the estate was omitted from the initial Graves classification of 1953 it caused some controversy.
[
]
History
Planted in 1300, the estate is the oldest planted vineyard in the region, when it was presented to Bertrand de Goth upon his appointment as archbishop of Bordeaux, by his brother, Berald. It received its name from Bertrand's papal name, Clement V
Pope Clement V (; – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his death, in April 1314. He is reme ...
; on his election in 1306 he gave the estate to his successor as archbishop, Cardinal Arnaud de Canteloup. Bertrand, who would later move the papacy
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
to Avignon
Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
near Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Châteauneuf-du-Pape (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The village lies about to the east of the Rhône and north of the town of Avignon.
A ruined medieval castle s ...
, planted this original vineyard with red wine grapes. White wine grapes were planted across the river near the town of Lormont. The vineyard remained in the possession of archbishops of Bordeaux until the Revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
, when it was nationalised and sold as a ''bien national''.
After the Revolution, a succession of owners oversaw the development of the property as a commercial enterprise, and by the middle of the 19th century the estate was widely regarded to be second only to Haut-Brion, though under the ownership and expansions of Jean-Baptiste Clerc from 1858 to his death just before 1880, the wines of Pape-Clément were selling at a price equivalent to a Médoc second growth.[ Later owners, including an Englishman named Maxwell who neglected the estate, experienced difficult times, with hail devastation in 1937, the onset of ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the expansions of the suburbs of Bordeaux coming closer.[
The estate was eventually revitalised under the ownership of the '']vigneron
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:
*Cooperating with viticulturists
*Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
'' and poet Paul Montagne who arrived in 1939.[ In need of reconstituting the vineyards from the scratch, the results of improvement were not seen until 1949.][ Having engaged the services of ]oenologist
Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...
Émile Peynaud, the wines of Pape-Clément have been viewed as increasingly successful, and has been described by David Peppercorn as the most important vineyard of Pessac-Talence behind Haut-Brion and La Mission.[
Following the death of Paul Montagne at 94, his son Léo Montagne has joint-ownership of the estate, partnered with Bernard Magrez, owner of Château La Tour Carnet.][ The estate currently employs the flying winemaker Michel Rolland as a consultant.][Suckling, James, ''Wine Spectator'' (June 30, 2006)]
"Consulting enologist Michel Rolland makes some of the world's best red wines"
Production
The vineyard area consists of 32.5 hectares, 30 of which are planted with grape varieties of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...
and 40% Merlot
Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...
. The remaining plots are cultivated with white varieties of 45% Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...
, 45% Sémillon
Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...
and 10% Muscadelle.[
The ''Grand vin'', Chateau Pape Clément, is produced annually in 7,000 cases of red wine and 350 cases of dry white wine. Additionally there are produced ]second wine
Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...
s Le Clémentin du Pape Clément and Le Prélat du Pape Clément.[ The introduction of a second wine in the 1980s, was widely credited with allowing the estate to increase their focus on the quality of their ''Grand vin'', by being more selective in which grapes were used. Today the ''Grand vin'' is typically composed of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot making up the remaining third. The wine is aged in oak barrels (almost half being new oak) for a minimum of fourteen months. The non-''cru classé'' white wine will typically be composed of equal amounts of Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon, depending on the vintage.]
References
External links
Château Pape Clément official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pape Clement, Chateau
Bordeaux wine producers