Chateau Pape Clement, Graves 2018 (1x75cl)

Pape Clément is a Cru Classé de Graves in Pessac-Léognan, and it has a claim no other Bordeaux estate can make: it has been producing wine continuously since around 1300, when it belonged to the Archbishop of Bordeaux who later became Pope Clement V. It is the oldest working vineyard in Bordeaux.

What Pessac-Léognan gives you. The appellation on the edge of the city, on gravel soils. The reds carry a smoky, mineral, almost tobacco-like edge that Médoc wines do not have — it is the most distinctive of the Left Bank styles.

Why 2018. Hot and dry. The wines are deeply coloured, ripe and generous, with plenty of structure behind the fruit. A vintage that drinks well young and also keeps.

When to drink it. Now with an hour in a decanter, or hold ten years. Grilled red meat, lamb, game — the smoky character makes it better with a grill than most Bordeaux.

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