Château Pape Clément 2012/2014/2015/2017

Château Pape Clément is a highly prestigious Bordeaux from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, known for its depth, velvety texture and excellent ageing potential. It's made by Bernard Magrez with consultancy from renowned oenologist Michel Rolland.

The Wine Advocate
RP 97

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The iconic 2012 Pape Clément is a candidate for near-perfection, as well as one of the wines of the vintage. From owner Bernard Magrez, it's a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. This extraordinary vineyard (a few kilometres west of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion) managed to excel in every aspect of this vintage. Interestingly, the quality of Pomerol and Graves wines in 2012 is closer to what you'd normally consider a great vintage than the overall image of the year might suggest.

This is truly a great wine, not far behind its magnificent 2005 and 2010. Full-bodied, with rich notes of cassis, subtle hints of smouldering embers and spice, followed by velvety, well-integrated tannins, the wine is opulent, broad, tasty and deep.

It's a remarkable wine that can be drunk relatively young but should develop brilliantly in bottle for about a quarter of a century.

Yields were a modest 37 hectolitres per hectare on this 132-acre estate. Alcohol was 13.5%.

Witness to a rich winemaking tradition built over more than 7 centuries of history, Château Pape Clément is one of the oldest Grands Crus of the Bordeaux region.

Now a true icon, Château Pape Clément is the quintessence of the Bordeaux style, with exceptional, luxurious wines that seduce immediately in their youth while ageing superbly over time.

Tending a 63 ha vineyard in the heart of the Pessac-Léognan appellation, Château Pape Clément enjoys an exceptional terroir, combining gravelly-sandy and clay-limestone soils over an iron-rich limestone subsoil.

A true flagship for the visionary Bernard Magrez, Château Pape Clément has harmoniously combined respect for tradition and winemaking know-how with the right dose of innovative modernism (a drone is used, for example, to monitor the parcels), giving this land of great wines every chance to give its best.

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (55%) and Merlot (45%), Château Pape Clément Rouge 2017 brilliantly reflects this uncompromising, constant pursuit of excellence.

From grape to cellar, nothing was left to chance to reveal the finest expression of this exceptional terroir, and Château Pape Clément red 2017 shows the profile of its vintage while keeping the identity that is the house's signature. Frankness and power on the nose for a complex aromatic profile, structure and density on the palate without losing finesse: simply Pape Clément.