Chateau Pape Clement

Classified as Grand Cru Classe for both red and white wines in 1959, Chateau Pape Clement is the oldest wine estate in Bordeuax, having been planted in 1300. It was presented to Bertrand de Goth upon his appointment as Archbishop of Bordeaux and the estate was renamed Chateau Pape Clement when its owner became Pope Clement V, and he gave the vineyard to the next Archbishop of Bordeaux, in whose hands the estate remained until the French Revolution. The estate produces mainly red wines, with a few hundred cases of white. I don't think I have tried any of their whites, though I have tasted a number of their reds including the one above. The oldest vintage I have tasted (in 2003) was from 1966, which was a nice garnet colour, with a fruity nose with hints of leaf as well as alcohol on the nose. The palate was soft and plummy, with a sour plum acidity, which persists to the finished accompanied by a touch of tannins. (Just as I could not lay my hands on that 1966 label, I could not retrieve the notes for the above wine!)

BTW, Pope Clement V was the one who moved the Papacy to Avignon and it was his successor who promoted the wines of the region - which became the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.