Château Pape Clément White 2015

Appellation: Pessac Léognan

"The color is cloudy, but the nose is complex, with notes of vanilla, honey and citrus. The wine is supple, fresh and beautifully complex, with a fine balance between Sauvignon and Semillon, even if the oak is not yet integrated. Vinification and especially ageing have produced a full-bodied, dense wine that is not yet disciplined, but has good freshness. The wine was aged in a mixture of barrels.

Figaro Vins

Features

Location: Pessac
2015 blend: 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 44% Sémillon, 6% Sauvignon Gris, 5% Muscadelle
Age of vines: 25 years
Planting density: 7,200 vines per hectare

Tasting

Château Pape Clément Blanc 2015 is a wine of great elegance and complexity. Golden in color with green highlights, it reveals an expressive, refined nose, with intense aromas of tropical fruits like mango and pineapple, accompanied by notes of zesty citrus and white flowers.

On the palate, this wine is rich and opulent, offering a creamy, silky texture. Exotic fruit flavors are perfectly balanced by crisp acidity that brings freshness and balance. Notes of vanilla, honey and sweet spices complete the wine's complex profile.

The finish is long and persistent, leaving a pleasantly refreshing sensation on the palate. The Château Pape Clément Blanc 2015 is an impressive wine, both powerful and delicate, and has definite cellaring potential to continue to evolve and develop in bottle.

Food & wine pairing

Seafood
Grilled fish
Poultry
Asian cuisine
Risotto

Conservation

5-10 years

Product from a High Environmental Value farm

Ratings & Awards

96/100
James Suckling
94/100
Neal Martin
95/100
Wine Enthusiast

96/100

James Suckling

"Remarkable density and power. Structured and full-bodied. Phenolic. Full body, dried apple and pear. Pineapple too. Long on the palate, lasting several minutes.

94/100

Neal Martin

"The Château Pape Clément Blanc 2015 is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris harvested between September 12 and 15 at 29.5 hl/ha. Around 15% of production was aged in egg-shaped concrete vats. The nose is actually more introverted than that of the second wine at the moment, but complexity is present with notes of oyster shell and citrus. The palate is extremely well-balanced, with a fine line of acidity that brings tension and freshness. This is a precisely crafted white Bordeaux, almost understated at first, but it's only on tasting that its quality becomes apparent. Like the second wine mentioned above, this one comes highly recommended."

95/100

Wine Enthusiast

"The wood is showing strongly here, giving a layer of spice to the generous perfumed fruit. It is going to be a rich, full wine, packed with fruit."

Winegrowing singularities

Wine Singularities

Climate

Grape varieties: 48.5% Semillon, 44.5% Sauvignon Blanc, 5.5% Sauvignon Gris, 1.5% Muscadelle
Age of vines: 26 years
Planting density: 7,200 plants per hectare
Soil type: Pyrenean clay gravel layer dating from the late Pliocene and early Quaternary periods
Vineyard management :
- Micro plot management
- Controlled grassing, cultivation of cavaillons by horse and ox ploughing
- Sustainable integrated pest management
- Topping, leaf-thinning and green harvesting.
- Hand-harvested in 2 selections
- Terra Vitis and HVE3 (High Environmental Value Level 3) certification

Winemaking :
- Fully manual filling of the pneumatic press
- Whole-berry pressing with very slow pressure build-up under inert atmosphere to protect aromas
- Gravity-flowing juice from the press into barrels
- Settling and vinification in French oak barrels
- Aged on fine lees with stirring
- 15% of wine vinified in new-generation ovoid cement vats
- Aged 14 months

The 2015 vintage in the prestigious Vineyard of Pessac-Léognan was marked by ideal weather conditions, giving rise to white wines of exceptional quality. In spring, well-distributed rainfall favored uniform flowering and promising fruit set for the white grapes.

The summer that followed was characterized by moderate summer temperatures, creating the perfect setting for slow, steady ripening of the white grapes. The cool nights preserved a balanced natural acidity in the berries, adding freshness and vivacity to the white wines. In addition, controlled rainfall helped keep the vines healthy right up to harvest.

All in all, these optimal weather conditions enabled the white wines of Pessac-Léognan to reveal their full elegance and complexity. The 2015 vintage stands out for its exuberant fruit expression and refined structure, offering wine lovers a memorable oenological experience full of promise. This remarkable vintage confirms Pessac-Léognan's reputation as a producer of world-class white wines, testifying to the excellence of the terroir and the know-how of the region's winemakers.