Chateau Pape Clement Tasting at WWWB

Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 07:30 PM

This Event has been read: 3725 times.

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"When it came to writing about wine, I did what almost everybody does - faked it"
 - Art Buchwald

 

We’re not faking it here at Wine Watch we actually drink the wines!!  Tonight is Gaja and White Truffles from Alba which we are featuring at the Wine Bar for the next three weeks!  Check out this weeks menu on the bottom of this e-mail.

Next week we have two back to back drinking engagements with a few of Bordeaux’s finest Chateau.  On Wednesday evening we have Chateau La Dominique from Saint Emilion and the next night we have Chateau Pape Clement from Pessac Leognan.

Chateau Pape Clement Tasting at Wine Watch Wine Bar


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Chateau Pape Clement is the oldest in Bordeaux founded by Pope Clement V back in 1305!  The Church owned it until the French Revolution in 1971 when it was finally available to wine drinking people other than the monks.  Bernard Magrez purchased this chateau in 1986 at the ripe old age of 65 years old and has brought this property to new heights. 

Join us as we experience some new releases from several of Bernard Magrez Chateau along with a vertical selection of the crown jewel of his portfolio Chateau Pape Clement.  The price of this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

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Bernard Magrez Chateau Featuring a Vertical tasting of
Chateau Pape Clement with Special Guest Jean-christophe CROUZET
Thursday, October 19th
7:30pm
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Chateau La Tour Carnet Blanc 2015

A 2.5 hectares in the Medoc mainly blended with Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Semillon.  A good amount of ripe exotic fruit, candied pineapple and pink grapefruit jolly rancher candy, very tropical and exotic with pretty floral notes and hints of gravelly mineral notes, really opening up nicely with some- time in the glass.  Juicy pineapple and ripe melon fruit with that savory grapefruit citrus leaving the tongue salivating for food, that minerality lengthening the finish.  finish 50+                 Excellent +

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Chateau Pape Clement Blanc Pessac Leognan 2013

(96 Points) Strikingly concentrated, a la a grand cru white Burgundy, the 2013 Pape Clement exhibits notes of orange zest, white currants, flowers, exotic mango and melon fruit. This medium to full-bodied, compellingly deep, fresh white wine should drink well for 10-20 years. It is a candidate for the white wine of the vintage in Bordeaux. Range: 94-96 The Wine Advocate

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Chateau La Tour Carnet Medoc 2014

(91 Points) The 2014 La Tour Carnet was a wine that I tasted last year from bottle, so why not give it another whirl to remind readers of its quality. There is a lot going on aromatically with plenty of boisterous black cherry and raspberry fruit, maintaining that floral element that I discerned last year. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perhaps the oak on this bottle a little more conspicuous than before, but that will be subsumed with two or three years in bottle.  The Wine Advocate

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Chateau Pape Clement Pessac Leognan 1998

(93 Points) A prodigious effort from Pape Clement this wine is smokin'!...a terrific nose of charcoal blackberries cassis tobacco minerals and spice. This brilliantly-focused medium to full-bodied 1998 already reveals a boatload of complexity as well as a remarkably long finish. A large-sized effort for this estate it exhibits a sweet mid-palate and ripe tannin...Bravo! Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, April 2001


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Chateau Pape Clement Pessac Leognan 2000
Price: $215.00    Sale Price: $170.00

(95 Points) The profound 2000 (a blend of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) continues to put on weight. An opaque purple color is accompanied by stunning aromas of wood smoke, cocoa, black currant and cherry liqueur, coffee, scorched earth, and new oak. A wine of extraordinary concentration, elegance, and complexity, it is one of the finest Pape Clements of the last three decades, but look out ... the 2001 may be even better! Only 55% of the production made it into the final blend. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2025. Wine Advocate # 146 Apr 2003

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Chateau Pape Clement Pessac Leognan 2008      

(95 Points) One of the top successes of the vintage, this blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot was harvested between October 8 and 24. The late harvest ensured perfect ripeness as evidenced by the sweet bouquet of black cherries, lead pencil shavings, cassis and subtle barbecue smoke. Well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins, medium to full body and a layered mouthfeel. The Wine Advocate

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Chateau Pape Clement Pessac Leognan 2012

(97 Points) The iconic 2012 Pape Clement is a candidate for near-perfection as well as one of the wines of the vintage. From proprietor Bernard Magrez, this is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. This extraordinary vineyard (a few miles to the west of Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion) has hit all the highlights of this vintage. Interestingly, the quality of the Pomerols and Graves wines in 2012 is closer to what one would consider a great vintage than the general image of 2012. This is truly great wine and not far off their magnificent 2005 and 2010. Full-bodied, with rich cassis, subtle burning embers and spice followed by velvety, well-integrated tannins, the wine is lush, expansive, savory and profound. This is a remarkable wine that could be drunk at a reasonably young age, but should cellar brilliantly for a quarter-century. The Wine Advocate

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Symphonie 2013 Sauternes- 2nd wine of Clos Haut Peyraguey

The Sauternes of the insiders... The vineyard of Clos Haut-Peyraguey, nestled at the highest point of the plateau of Bommes in Sauternes region is at the heart of the Premiers Crus Classés in 1855. It sits opposite to the Chateau d'Yquem, and its immediate neighbors are called Rayne-Vigneau or Château Guiraud. This ancient barony has survived the centuries since its first harvest in 1618, enjoying a unique terroir and climatic conditions combined with an ancestral know-how enabling it to make its grapes play a symphony of excellence giving a unique and prestigious golden wine: the Sauternes of Clos Haut-Peyraguey.

Menu
Charcuterie Selection:  Beemster Gouda, Prosciutto di san Daniele
Pacific Salmon Carpaccio with pink grapefruit citrus and lavender aioli
Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin with Black Bean Salsa

The price of this dinner is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

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A bit about Chateau Pape Clement:

Like Château Haut-Brion, Château Pape-Clément is located within the urban desert landscape of the Bordeaux suburbs and is ergo a bugger to find for the first-time visitor. It is arresting to find the vinous aristocracy hemmed in by the tide of urban expansion - you would imagine that these revered names would at least be afforded some refuge upon a higher plateau or buffered by tracts of verdure or manicured gardens. Yet both properties abut featureless bungalows that could be mistaken for any conurbation in the world, although few of them could trace their history back to the 13th century, for Pape-Clément is one of the most ancient estates in Bordeaux.

The name obviously has ecclesiastical origins, namely one Pope Clement V, born Bertrand de Goth. His elder brother decided that his pious sibling deserved his own property within close proximity to the city of Bordeaux and so handed him an estate called "Magonty" in 1300. When he took the papacy in 1306 and moved it to Avignon, cultivating the surrounding vineyards now known as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, he continued to grow vines at Pape-Clément before handing it over to the church who were the dominant wine-growers of the time. Since only about 12 barrels (300 cases) of their "Vigne du Pape-Clément" was produced, it was not commercially sold but reserved for those thirsty clerics and their ceremonial rituals.

All ecclesiastical properties were sequestered by the state after the French Revolution including Pape-Clément in 1791, ending almost five centuries of sacerdotal ownership. The property was purchased by Charles Peixotto and the wines seeped onto the general market. During the 19th century Pape-Clément passed through the hands of several owners and garnered a fine reputation, second to Château Haut-Brion within the Graves region. The estate was ameliorated further when it was purchased by Monsieur Jean-Baptiste Clerc in 1858 who renovated the château, planted Cabernet Franc (which has now disappeared) and improved the vineyard which was increased in size to 30-hectares.

Trust an Englishman to bugger everything up. Pape-Clément deteriorated when it was purchased by a gentleman called "Maxwell" (not Robert) after the First World War. The estate was completely neglected and wine-making almost disappeared, especially after a heavy hail-storm in June 1937 which devastated the vineyard.

It was on the verge of being sold for redevelopment and would have become lost to history had Paul Montagne not plucked it from obscurity when he purchased the estate in 1939. Pape-Clément's Messiah instigated a long-term program of replanting the vineyards and renovating the château, finally completed in 1950. Moreover, he had the serendipity to enlist a young oenologist by the name of Emile Peynaud to assist with the resurrection. His son Léo is now the joint-owner with Bernard Magrez, with the management under Bernard Pujol.

The vineyards of Pape-Clément cover 32.5-hectares: 30-hectares devoted to red varieties and 2.5-hectares to the white, on a soil of Garonne gravel with a clay-sand subsoil. The planting of red varietals are 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot whilst the whites are made from 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle with a planting density of 8,500 vines per hectare for the reds, 7,700 for the whites. Approximately 62% of the vines are over 25 years in age, with a few survivors of devastating 1956 frosts. The vines are pruned double- Guyot with effeuillage (leaf-removal) practiced twice in June along with a green harvesting to reduce potential yield. One advantage of being located within the city is that there is a ready supply of hands for the harvest, available at short-notice from the local University de Talence.

The stainless steel, temperature-controlled vats range in size from 50 hl to 140 hl and each is filled with one varietal picked on a certain day. Skin maceration last for 25 to 30 days for the Merlot and slightly longer for the Cabernet Sauvignon at 30 to 40 days with remontage or pumping-over to enhance extraction of tannins, colour and aroma. Malolactic fermentation occurs both in stainless steel vats and in barrel; pressed wine added during the blending up to a maximum of 10%. The wine is matured in barrel (60% to 90% new oak depending on the vintage) for 18 to 20 months after which it is usually fined with egg-whites before bottling.

For the white the wine remains on the lees for around 10 months with between 20% and 40% new oak. Approximate production of the Grand Vin is between 7,000 cases for the red and just 700 six-bottle cases for the white (it used to be 100 and was not commercially sold.) The Second Label is "Le Clémentin du Pape-Clément."  Château Pape-Clément has made some superlative wines in recent years, both the 2000 and 2001 surfeit with opulent ripe fruit and great purity. In some ways I worry that they are producing their techniques too far: ensuing vintages a tad over-extracted and rendered monotonous, lacking flair and poise on the finish. If anything it lacks the naturalness, the effortless nature that makes Chateau Haut-Brion so special.

 

 

 

2015 La Tour Carnet Blanc Medoc
Price: $42.50

2013 Chateau Pape Clement Blanc

Pessac Leognan
Price: $223.25

2013 Le Clementin Du Chateau Pape

Clement Blanc
Price: $57.50

1982 Chateau Pape Clement Rouge

Pessac Leognan
Price: $180.25

2008 Chateau Pape Clement Rouge

Pessac Leognan
Price: $199.25

2012 Chateau Pape Clement Rouge

Pessac Leognan
Price: $142.25

2014 Chateau Pape Clement Rouge

Pessac Leognan
Price: $128.25

2009 Chateau La Tour Carnet  Medoc
Price: $72.25

2014 Chateau La Tour Carnet  Medoc
Price: $50.50

2013 Symphonie Sauternes (375ml)
Price: $17.25

2013 Symphonie Sauternes
Price: $34.25