Ch.Pape Clement Blanc 2004 750ml

Wine Advocate # 1st Sep 2017
While there is nothing bad about the 2004 Pape Clement Blanc per se, in the company of other dry white Bordeaux this does come across as excessively oaky on the nose, so much so that it occludes the terroir and seems quite simple. The palate is honeyed and creamy in texture, quite New World in style with touches of white chocolate. There is good length here but it feels one-dimensional and reflects the winemaking more than the terroir.

Château Pape Clément is a Cru Classé Graves property that has one of the oldest documented histories of any Bordeaux vineyard, having been planted in 1300 by Bernard de Groth, the future Pope Clément V. In 1939 the estate was bought by the Montagne family and is now owned and run by Léo Montagne.
Pape Clément is located in the Bordeaux suburb of Pessac and consists of a chai and 32 hectares of vineyards, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (40%) and small amounts of Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle.
The quality of the wines at Pape Clément slipped in the 1960s and 70s, largely because of under-investment. Bernard Magrez was appointed as general manager in 1985 and he turned Pape Clément's fortunes around. He introduced more rigorous selection in the vineyards, as well as installing stainless steel vats and raising the percentage of new oak casks used in the maturation process.
Pape Clément now produces one of the finest clarets in Pessac-Léognan.