2016 Pape Clement Blanc
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2016 Pape Clément Blanc has a lighter bouquet than the Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, but it is still well defined and unfurls nicely in the glass to offer orange blossom, pineapple and light candle wax aromas. The palate is well balanced with a dab of ginger on the entry. There is a fine waxy texture here, hints of rhubarb and lemongrass furnishing a finish that just needs a little more persistence. Not bad at all. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
Among the whites of the vintage, the 2016 Château Pape Clément Blanc is one of the most concentrated, deep, and full-bodied whites out there, offering up a red wine-like structure to go with beautiful notes of white grapefruit, Meyer lemon, crushed rocks, and exotic flowers. A blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 36% Sémillon, 9% Sauvignon Gris, and 5% Muscadelle, all from deep gravelly soils and brought up in 55% new French oak, this incredibly textured, pure, balanced white needs 3-4 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades or more.
The 2016 Pape Clément Blanc contains no Sauvignon Gris this year. It is slightly deeper in color compared to its peers, though the well-defined bouquet is perhaps not quite as complex, becoming slightly waxy with aeration. The palate is well balanced with, again, a waxy-textured entry. There is good weight in the mouth, and the slightly honeyed style reveals a twist of sour lemon on the finish. Drink over the next 12 years.
About the producer
Among the oldest estates in Bordeaux, Ch. Pape Clément has been guided into the modern era by Bernard Magrez, who has managed the estate since 1985. It makes some of the best reds in the region.