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Pape Clément Blanc 2015

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan
ColourWhite
TypeStill
Grape VarietySauvignon Blanc/Semillon

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Pape Clément

Label

Tasting Notes

The 2015 Pape-Clément Blanc has an attractive bouquet of crisp, well-defined Granny Smith apple, shucked oyster shell, Conference pear and light white peach aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The well-balanced palate possesses good depth and enough acidity to lend real tension and energy. It becomes more malic toward the finish, but there is always an underlying richness that imparts a fine peach skin finish. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

94
Neal Martin, vinous.com, July 2019

Very impressive pear and dried-peach fruits with very subtle mealy, savory notes. The palate delivers impressive weight, amazing power and depth here. Richness and great prowess. Tight now. Give it three or four years to open.

98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2018

Apricots, honeysuckle, fresh pineapple, and straw all jump from the nose of the 2015 Pape Clement Blanc, followed by hints of beeswax and cedar. The medium to full-bodied palate has an opulent oiliness to the texture, with lively acidity and bags of tropical and citrus fruits, finishing long.

96
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, November 2022

Big and bold on the nose. Very rich, almost sweet, and then, for the moment, the crisp citrus bit on the finish is not (yet?) integrated. Quite a show stopper but possibly too big and rich to marry with food easily.
Drink 2018-2026

17+
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2016

Not particularly aromatic though there is a light oily spice suggesting richness. Super-creamy on the palate, rounded and broader in the mouth than many. Deep, almost savoury but still cool and fresh. (JH) 14.5%
Drink 2018-2025

17
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, November 2017

The rare dry white wine of Chateau Pape Clement is made from 48.5% Semillon, 5.5% Sauvignon Gris, 1.5% Muscadelle and the rest Sauvignon Blanc. Very smoky on the nose, with sweet vanilla, grapefruit and some pineapple slices. The palate is rich, creamy and more viscous than most whites in 2015, with a waxy tropical fruit character to pair with the smoky new oak. This is long and powerful on the finish.

92
Farr Vintners, March 2016

The 2015 Château Pape Clément Blanc is sensational stuff, and along with Domaine de Chevalier’s Blanc, a candidate for the white wine of the vintage. Made from close to equal amounts of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, with 10% Sauvignon Gris, from a 7.2-hectare section of the Pessac Vineyard, it offers a perfumed bouquet of lime, lychee, crushed rocks, and green citrus. Fabulous on the palate as well, with full-bodied richness and a ripe, sexy, concentrated style, it stays fresh and lively, and is an absolute joy to drink. You can drink bottles over the coming 4-5 years or cellar for 15+. Tasted twice and rated it 96 and 97, so I’m being conservative on the rating. 2022 - 2037

97
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, November 2017

The nose has ripe fruit the start of the palate full and fleshy ripe peach with underlying pineapple. Brighter at the back the sweet fruit is underpinned by citrus but it finishes with sweet fruit depth of flavour.

90/92
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2016
89
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2016

Good richness and power coupled with quite a closed and controlled palate makes this a wine with some serious potential.
Grand and with complete confidence, this is a terrific wine which starts to show its layers of fruit right at the back of
the palate where they will remain until they are ushered forwards in a few years.

18+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2016
Read more tasting notes...

The 2015 Pape Clement Blanc is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris picked between 12 and 15 September at 29.5 hectoliters per hectare. Around 15% of the production was aged in egg-shaped concrete tanks. It puts the Magrez Fombrauge Blanc in the shade on the nose with lovely lemon curd, Cornice pear and white peach notes that blossom in the glass and feel nicely integrated with the new oak. The palate is fresh on the entry with crisp acidity, vibrant with citrus lemon, fresh pear, melon and a subtle saline note toward the finish. Very fine. Anticipated maturity: 2019 - 2030.

93
Neal Martin, March 2018

The 2015 Pape Clement Blanc is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris picked between 12 and 15 September at 29.5 hl/ha. Around 15% of the production was aged on egg-shaped concrete tanks. The nose is actually more introverted than the deuxième vin at the moment, but the complexity is locked in via shucked oyster shell and citrus notes. The palate is extremely well balanced with a keen line of acidity that imparts tension and freshness. This is a succinctly crafted white Bordeaux, almost understated at first, but it is only when it departs down the throat that its quality become apparent. Like the aforementioned deuxième vin, this comes highly recommended.

92/94
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (224), April 2016

So dense and powerful. Layered and chewy. Phenolic. Full body, dried apple and pear. Pineapple too. Goes on for minutes.

95/96
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2016

The 2015 Pape Clement Blanc is blended of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Gris, fermented in 55% new and 45% one-year-old oak barrels. It aged for 16 months in barrels, with the entire time spent on the fine lees. It has quite a closed, reticent nose featuring ripe peaches, musk perfume and struck flint notes with a suggestion of lemon curd and honeycomb plus a touch of coriander seed. Medium-bodied with a crisp backbone, the intense citrus and stone fruit flavors trail off beautifully into a lingering honeyed finish. 2020 - 2035

95
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim Fe), February 2018
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.