Château Climens

The name Climens shows up for the first time in a contract from 1547, and in the local Gascon dialect, it means roughly "poor, unfertile land," an odd thing to name what would become one of the great sweet wine estates of France. The Roborel family expanded the property and began serious viticulture in the 17th century. In 1855, the same year Climens received Premier Cru status in the region's classification, Henri Gounouilhou bought the estate, and it stayed in his family for over a century.

Lucien Lurton, who already owned several well-known Médoc estates, bought Climens in 1971. His daughter Bérénice took over in 1992 and ran the estate for three decades, turning it into one of Bordeaux's most respected biodynamic producers and building its reputation as a genuine rival to Yquem in finesse if not in scale. A run of frost-damaged vintages between 2017 and 2021, several of which produced no wine to sell at all, was part of what led her to sell a majority stake in 2022 to Jean-Hubert Moitry and his family. Lurton stayed on in an advisory role, and longtime technical director Frédéric Nivelle remained in place to carry the winemaking forward.

The vineyard is one continuous block of around 30 hectares, unusual in itself since most Bordeaux estates farm scattered parcels. It's planted entirely to Sémillon, on a thin layer of clay and sand over cracked limestone bedrock, the kind of soil most producers in the region would hedge against by blending in some Sauvignon Blanc for acid. Climens doesn't need to: the limestone underneath does that work on its own, giving the wine a mineral freshness that's become the estate's signature.

Vines average around 35 years old, planted at a dense 6,600 vines per hectare, and yields are kept famously low, averaging around 12 hectoliters per hectare over the last two decades, excluding years when frost wiped the harvest out completely.

Climens began converting to biodynamic farming in 2010 and was fully converted within a year, well ahead of most of Bordeaux. Certification through Biodyvin followed with the 2014 vintage, and the estate also picked up organic certification through Ecocert in 2013. Part of the operation includes an on-site "tisanerie," a tea room where chamomile, fennel, and other plants grown on the estate are dried and turned into the herbal preparations biodynamic farming calls for, an unusually hands-on approach even by biodynamic standards.

Harvest is done by hand, picking through the vineyard for berries with the right degree of botrytis, much like at any serious Sauternes or Barsac estate. Fermentation relies on natural yeast rather than cultured strains, taking place in small batches in French oak barrels, of which roughly a third to just under half are new each vintage. The wine then ages for around 20 to 22 months before bottling.

Climens keeps its range tight. Alongside the sweet grand vin the estate is known for, there's a second wine built the same way for earlier drinking, and a dry white that shows what the same Sémillon can do without botrytis at all.

Premier Cru Classé of the 1855 classification, and widely regarded as the finest estate in Barsac, hence the nickname "Lord of Barsac." Wine writer Alexis Lichine once rated Climens's 1929, 1947, and 1949 vintages above Yquem itself for their lightness and subtlety, and comparisons to Yquem have followed the estate ever since. The 2022 vintage, made right after the change in ownership and after a run of frost-hit years produced little or no wine, was widely praised as a genuine comeback.

The estate runs its own visits, bookable through the official website. The standard "Discovery of Climens" tour runs through the vineyard, the cellars, and the tisanerie, finishing with a tasting of two wines, and costs around €45 per person.