In about 1300 the vineyard at Pessac was given to Bertrand de Goth, then Archbishop of Bordeaux. Five years later he was elected Pope Clement V, moved the papacy to Avignon and left the land to his successors in the see. The name stuck. Pape Clément has been producing wine on the same site for seven centuries, which makes it one of the oldest working vineyards in France, now hemmed in on every side by the city of Bordeaux.
The wine is a Graves cru classé from the ground that is today called Pessac-Léognan: gravel soils close to the river, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in roughly equal measure, and the faint smoky, warm-stone character those vineyards give. In 1974 the estate belonged to the Montagne family, in a quieter chapter of its history well before the investment of the 1980s onwards.
The vintage was cold and wet at the end. This bottle has outlived every expectation anyone held for it in 1974.
-
Producer: Château Pape Clément
-
Vintage: 1974
-
Appellation: Pessac-Léognan AOC
-
Format: 75cl
-
Region: Bordeaux, France
-
Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. Mature to the point of fragility after fifty-two years — this is a bottle bought for the year on the label.
Who it suits. Suits someone turning fifty-two in 2026 with an interest in history: a wine whose name traces back to a fourteenth-century pope.
Condition. Listed as good condition, which is merchant shorthand, so we inspect the bottle and send you photographs of the fill and label before charging.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
