2014 Pape Clement Blanc

The 2014 Pape-Clement Blanc has a seductive, creamy bouquet with crème brûlée, peach skin scents developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a thick veneer of new oak, creamy and commercial, not a dry white with scintillating terroir expression but you still find yourself taking sip after sip of this heady wine. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

The 2014 Pape Clement Blanc was tasted three times during my tastings. In all three occasions, I felt that it has not quite delivered on that initial promise from barrel, missing the mineral tension of the finest white Bordeaux such as Domaine de Chevalier or Malartic-Lagravière Blanc. The palate is quite rounded on the entry and the new oak is more evident here, lending the texture an attractive creaminess, but filing away some of the tension and nervosité on the finish. I can picture it having broad appeal, but I was hoping for more terroir expression.