Winemaker Notes
The white wine of Château Pape Clément is an exclusive, rare and sought-after wine. Produced on seven hectares it is an exceptional wine, resulting from a unique terroir and know-how.
Blend: 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sémillon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of candied lemons, sliced dried apples and some stone. Also hints of celery. Medium body, dried pears and apples on the palate. Lots of gun metal and matchstick character. Crisp acidity. Give this time to develop in the bottle. Drink after 2027.
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Wine Enthusiast
This rich wine from a legendary Bordeaux estate is full of spice and toast, with a backing of ripe white-fruit acidity. It has depth and concentration, a full-bodied wine that will age well.
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Decanter
Excellent clarity and precision, you can feel this has been well worked with a vibrancy and tension running through the apple, apricot and fleshy peach fruit with some creamy patisserie edges. I love the lick of sherbet that lingers on the tongue and the persisting zestines. Fully flavoured and confident with some lemon drop and crushed stone salty minerality on the finish. Tasted twice.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Exotic melon, subtle tropical fruits, spice, and some minty herb notes all emerge from the 2021 Château Pape Clément Blanc, a bright, lively, medium-bodied white hat has good overall concentration, integrated yet high acidity, and a great finish. I slightly overrated this from barrel, but this is nevertheless a beautiful Bordeaux Blanc. The blend is 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pape Clément Blanc shows the tension and cut that this vintage could bring to dry white Bordeaux. Exhibiting aromas of gooseberries, nectarine, confit citrus and pastry cream, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy but incisive, with a textural attack and a bright, saline finish. It's a blend of 72% Sauvignon Blanc, only 22% Sémillon, 5% Sauvignon Gris and 1% Muscadelle. Barrel Sample 93-94
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Wine Spectator
An alluring white, with verbena, Jonagold apple and quinine notes laced with a hint of singed brioche and backed by a salted butter accent on the finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.