From Soil to Glass

The estate of Château Pape Clément lies within the Pessac-Leognan AOC and more generally in the Graves winegrowing region. With their soil of exceptional components, these 60 hectares of vineyards celebrate the alliance of passion and work. Each plot, each plant, each grape is carefully cared for, then transformed with jeweller’s precision.

The soil

Located in Pessac, near Bordeaux, Château Pape Clément is divided into three main plots with different characteristics and several smaller plots scattered throughout the town.

The geological base
The Tertiary age bedrock (Oligocene period) is composed of starfish limestone, which forms the backbone of Bordeaux’s soil. Here on the lower left bank of the Garonne, it is covered with a thin and more recent layer of land from the Miocene period (Tertiary period). These are the shelly sands of Bordeaux, full of broken shells.
On top of this base lies the alluvial gravel known as The Graves. Mainly composed of more or less round blunt pebbles, this gravel is coated with a matrix of fine elements, primarily sand and clay.
The Graves: the strength of the soil
Château Pape Clement is located on the oldest of these alluvial terraces, known as Pyrenees Graves. Dating back to the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene periods, it was spread over the substratum by torrential flows. It has several geographic origins: Atlantic Pyrenees, Pyrenean piedmont and eastern Massif Central. Such elements as the trilogy of Chalosse tawny sands, multi-coloured clays and siliceous graves can be distinguished. The originality of Château Pape Clément’s site is the presence of a thin surface of more recent Garonne graves, dating from the Gunz, which was deposited there a million and a half years ago.
Western sands
To the west of the property, the graves are buried under a layer of aeolian Landes sand that spread out in the late Quaternary, forty thousand years ago. This thick 30-50 cm layer provides the vines with a parsimonious balanced supply of water.
More clay in the east
To the east, the proportion of clay increases. Better able to retain water, this type of soil diffuses it slowly. The vines thus begin to mature under conditions of moderate water stress, without being exposed to brutal drought phenomena.
A leaner soil in the north
To the north, the gravelly-sandy terraces are particularly poor in clay and organic matter. On these lean and filtering soils, the vines may suffer greater water stress. Full maturity is reached when the balance between the vegetative part and the grapes is maintained thanks to a particular pruning method.
The addition of iron
The high iron content of the subsoil and groundwater contributes to the personality of the soil. Experts say this explains the spicy, smoky bouquet that is specific to the wines of Chateau Pape Clement.

The Vineyard

Grape varieties, cultivation, harvesting: in Château Pape Clément, each parcel is exploited separately. Depending on soil and exposure, work on the vineyard is adapted to make sure the maturing of the grapes is a slow, regular and complete process.

Red varieties (57 hectares)
The red vines are divided into 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot.
Cabernet Sauvignon is mainly located on the gravelly and sandy-gravelly areas. It gives the blend the tannic backbone to guarantee aging potential once in the bottles. Better suited to clay soils, Merlot produces round, rich and velvety wines, where ripe fruit dominates. Note that more than 60% of the vines are over 25 years old, including a large proportion over 40 years old. The presence of old vines gives extra finesse and elegance.
White varieties (3 hectares)
45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle.
Very different in character, these three grape varieties give the blend its fine and extremely complex expression. Sauvignon, a lively variety with its fruity, fresh and invigorating notes, provides an acidic structure necessary for the good aromatic expression of any white wine. Semillon, which produces full-bodied suave wines with ripe fruit and honey aromas, gives the blend its ability to age in bottles.
As for Muscadelle, it brings that special intense touch that contributes to a complex taste.
Planting: the principle of strong competition
The vines are planted at high densities between 7700 and 9000 plants per hectare. This highly competitive environment and the choice of low-vigour rootstock naturally weaken the plants and create optimum conditions for ripening. Grass is planted between the most clayey plots, further increasing competition for water between stocks.
Trimming and leaf removal to recreate a natural order
Between the two phases of leaf removal, thinning (or green harvest) gets rid of the imperfect clusters. The misplaced clusters, which are either too high or too close to each other, are the first ones to be removed. Then, during a second passage, at the beginning of veraison, those that would be too late for harvest are also removed.
Custom harvest
Following numerous observations and analyses of subsurface, soil, leaves and grapes throughout the year, each task is carried out at the peak time according to the plot. It is thus natural to set separate harvest dates for each.
The team of harvesters can actually vary in number from thirty to over a hundred people depending on the day, according to the number of parcels found to beat perfect maturity. During harvest, they often conduct an initial screening. For white varieties, the criterion is the golden colour of the clusters. It is thus common for a plot to be harvested in two or three successive passages, spaced out from a few days to a whole week. White grapes are picked in the morning only, before the outside temperature is too high, so as to better preserve flavour and prevent oxidation. The hand-picked berries are placed in small crates, to avoid phenomena such as compression and premature release of the juice.

Vinification

Reconciling traditions with advanced techniques, the wines of Chateau Pape Clement are made to meet the highest quality standards.

Separate vinification
The use of small vats makes it possible to vinify separately the different fruits from the various plots of the domain. The grapes can thus express their full diversity. This distinctive technique of working is the basis for blending each vintage.
Meticulous destemming
Separating the berries from their stems is done entirely by hand. This is why we prefer to talk about grape-by-grape destemming than general manual destemming. It is an arduous task that requires many workers, but it allows us to work only with whole grapes, without any unintentional extraction or early release of juice.

Gentle pressing
Crates are emptied manually into a pneumatic press. The increase in pressure is very slow, without breaking up the press cake, to extract only the purest part of the juice. Musts are directly placed in barrels by gravity, without pumping.

Fermentation: the contribution of oak
The red wines of Chateau Pape Clement are vinified in oak vats. This allows for uniform fermentation, as opposed to steel vats that are prone to temperature variations. First maintained between 29 and 30 ° C during fermentation, then between 27 and 29 ° C during post-fermentation maceration, moderate temperatures then allow a gentle extraction of tannins and colour. Fermentation until draining can last from 20 to 35 days depending on the evolution of taste in each vat.

Alcoholic fermentation of great white wines is carried out entirely in French oak barrels. Once complete, there comes the moment for “bâtonnage” when an exchange takes place between the resuspended lees and the wine, thus promoting the development of its substance and aromatic expression.
The proportion of new oak barrels varies between 70 and 100% depending on the vintage. This allows the best possible complementarity between the expression of each of the three grape varieties and the balance with the aromatic contribution of the barrels and the “bâtonnage” process.
Egg white fining
Some vintages may have too high levels of suspension. We then clarify the wine with egg white fining, using fresh beaten egg whites. This attracts and precipitates any solids and drags them down to the bottom of the vat.
The art of blending
Blending aims both at achieving the concentration and the complexity expected of the finest wines and also to maintain the typicality of Château Pape Clément over the vintages. The latter is characterised by notes of smoke and spices associated with fruity aromas and a rich and elegant substance.
Thus, the blender can slightly vary the proportions of grape varieties. He must find the balance that brings the most beautiful harmony in taste and the best potential for bottle-aging.
Appropriate vinification
For red vintages, wines are casked into new barrels by gravity, without resorting to pumping. Vinification, during which malolactic fermentation takes place, lasts between 18 and 20 months. The barrels originate from eight different cooperages so that the timber note remains as fine and as discreet as possible. To prevent them from drying, white wines are not kept in barrels more than twelve months. For one month, barrels are kept at low temperature. This provides natural clarification of the wine, which avoids any chemical or physical treatment during bottling.

Bottling by the rules
All wines are bottled at the chateau with the utmost care. Impeccable cork quality, low-speed filling and vacuum corking are all keys to ensure perfect stability in the aging potential of the wines of Château Pape Clément.