Château Pape Clément is located at the gateway to Bordeaux. The 60 hectares of this great name of the region flourish around a magnificent neo-Gothic castle. This Château is part of the Grand Cru Classé de Graves, this prestige is due to the high quality of the soils. An alliance between traditional and technological methods is practiced in this place steeped in 700 years of history.
The greatest care is taken in the vineyard because producing a Grand Cru is a constant concern! Farmers are aware of the richness that their terroir brings them. Through this incredible visit you will have the opportunity to discover all the secrets that make this castle an exceptional property. The estate gives an important place to oxen and horses for soil maintenance. This may seem surprising to you, but music is also used in the fight against diseases in the vines, you can understand how it works thanks to the winegrower. UAVs are also used to monitor this large area.
In 2007, the vat room was refurbished, there are now 28 vats all used by plots of different ages or grape varieties! This is a fragmented vinification, this technique is also widely used in Champagne. The estate after years of existence and experience has been able to determine the grape varieties of its vineyards that gave happy blends! The separation of the plots thus makes it possible to respect each terroir and its complexity... Each cuvée has its own specificity in the maturing process, for example Château Pape Clément rouge requires 18 months of maturation, 70% of which takes place in new barrels. During this period, the estate's teams take the greatest care of the wine during our racking and this until bottling. We work with several coopers, adding even more complexity to our wines.
Our story
Bertrand de Goth was a clergyman in the 13th century, he eventually became Archbishop of Bordeaux. He then received as a gift a property in Pessac, called the vineyard of La Mothe. He is passionate about the vine and invests himself in equipping, organizing and managing the estate by combining modern and traditional techniques. At the death of the Pope in office, Bertrand de Goth was appointed Pope, he became Clement V.
The workload associated with his new duties prevents him from continuing to develop his property. Recognizing the work of Pope Clement, it is none other than the various archbishops of Bordeaux who are in charge of this estate as the succession progresses. They take the side of technological progress and modernity to maintain and develop it as a pioneering field in the region. It is in this area that the vines were aligned for the first time to facilitate the ploughing of the soil, and when the Archbishop of Bordeaux of the time was dispossessed of his property, the property fell into the public domain.
It was Jean-Baptiste de Clerc, who in 1858, bought the estate and named it Château Pape Clément in homage to his predecessor. He received the great medal of the Ministry of Agriculture at the 1878 Universal Exhibition for his excellent work as a manager. 1937, the vineyard was hit by hail and was almost completely destroyed. A few years later, Paul Montagne acquired the estate as it stood. His efforts are bearing fruit and the estate is once again shining brightly. Successive generations, including Léo Montagne and Bernard Magrez, have been working in this direction to continue to produce quality wines.
