Château Pape Clément 2020

Château Pape Clément reveals a structured and aromatic red wine from Pessac-Léognan

The estate

Located at the gates of Bordeaux, Château Pape Clément is one of the oldest wine-growing properties in the region, with a first harvest that took place in 1252. Château Pape Clément owes its name to Pope Clement V, who managed the vineyard before giving it to the Archbishop of Bordeaux. The vineyard is therefore sometimes nicknamed "Pope Clement's Vines". In 1983, Bernard Magrez, a tireless builder and composer of rare wines, purchased the property. Bernard Magrez, who now owns 4 Grands Crus Classés in Bordeaux, invested all of his energy and passion, elevating Château Pape Clément to the highest level of Bordeaux Grands Crus. In 2009, Château Pape Clément was rewarded for its quality by a 100/100 score from American critic Robert Parker.

The vineyard

Boasting an exceptional terroir in the Pessac-Léognan appellation, the Château Pape Clément vineyard covers 63 hectares of vines. The vines are planted in soils of Pyrenean gravelly clay. The vineyard is managed on a micro-plot basis. The Château Pape Clément estate is certified for High Environmental Value 3, SME and even holds a Bee-Friendly certification.

Vinification and ageing

The manual harvests were carried out on a plot-by-plot basis in crates, with a first sorting in the vineyard. Following a second sorting on the sorting table, the berries were filled into wooden vats of 30 to 70 hl by gravity and underwent a pre-fermentation maceration at a low temperature of 8°C. Completely manual punch-downs were carried out during the 30-day maceration to refine the extraction. The wine was run off into barriques and large foudres of French oak by gravity. Malolactic fermentation was carried out in barrels (2/3 new oak and 1/3 oak of one previous wine). Ageing lasted 18 months and took place in small barriques (90%) and large foudres (10%) of French oak.

The blend

The Château Pape Clément red 2020 was made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (47%), Petit Verdot (2%) and Cabernet Franc (1%).