Château Pape Clément 2017

Druvor

55% Cabernet Sauvignon & 45% Merlot

Tasting note

This 32.5-hectare estate is surrounded by the city of Bordeaux, not far from Haut-Brion. In the vineyards, farming is thoughtful, with Esca-infected vines counted and registered by tractor, and both horses and an electric tractor are employed to avoid compacting the soils—and to respect the neighboring dwellings. While the château isn't organic, the use of chemical products is kept to a minimum, and activity in the estate's beehives is monitored immediately after a treatment to verify that there hasn't been any adverse impact. Planted in red with roughly equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and in white with roughly equal parts Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, Pape Clément produces some of Pessac-Léognan's richest, most dramatic wines, though recent years have seen a discreet turn toward a somewhat more restrained style, a shift especially obvious in the château's white wine: Merlot is picked a touch earlier than in the past; foudres and large-format oak barrels now supplement 225-liter barriques; and the percentage of new oak is more modest. The style remains, however, rather oaky and extracted—the aesthetic, in other words, of the early 2000s. With a talented technical team in place and a superb terroir that's beautifully maintained, I suspect that could easily change.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate