2023 Château Climens, Barsac, Bordeaux

100% Sémillon. RS 130 g/l. 2.7 hl/ha. Certified organic and biodynamic Demeter). Cask sample.

Pale gold hue. Pure and lifted, the botrytis character evident. Marmalade and tropical-fruit notes. Bitter-botrytised attack. Gently sweet with a defining acidity and freshness more so than 2022). Clean, fresh and long on the finish. Very Barsac.

Drink 2028 - 2048

The 2023 Climens is a dense, racy Barsac. Today is embryonic, but the potential is there. A wine of textural resonance, Climens offers up an exotic mélange of dried apricot, pear, spice, dried flowers, orange peel and passion fruit. I am very much looking forward to tasting this in bottle.

Drink 2030 - 2063

A question mark for this venerable Barsac Premier Cru: Despite their best efforts, respecting biodynamic practices, the château team lost about 75% of the harvest to mildew, including top, old-vine Sémillon grapes a miniscule yield of 2.7hl/ha) and the cloudy sample that I tried, exuding fine and fresh pineapple and orange notes, lacked expected energy. While very good, it seems to underperform in 2023, at least based on the sample that I had. It has 130 grams per litre of residual sugar and 4 grams of total acidity and a pH of 3.8. Ageing in 100% new oak.

Drink 2026 - 2046

How it is possible to sculpt such an opulent but precise and delicious wine out of such a tiny yield of 2.7hl/h is beyond me, but somehow Climens has achieved it. Stunning depths of juicy peach, nectarine, white tea, white truffle, pineapple, saffron, mint, concentrated but aerial with a slice of steel. Just 4,000 bottles produced instead of the normal 10,000, 130g/l residual sugar. A tough vintage for Climens owner Jean-Hubert Moitry, but the results are impressive.

Drink 2025 - 2040