Château Climens
Encyclopedia
Sauternes (wine)
Sauternes is a French sweet wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves section in Bordeaux. Sauternes is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. This causes the grapes to become partially raisined,...
wine producer from the Barsac
Barsac, Gironde
Barsac is a commune on the left bank of the Garonne river in the Gironde department in southwestern France.-Population:-Wine:The town gives its name to a wine making appellation, Barsac AOC, that produces sweet white wines....
appellation
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
. The estate is located in the southern part of France’s Bordeaux wine
Bordeaux wine
A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...
region in the district of :Graves, an eighth of a mile away from Barsac's other most historically rated vineyard, Château Coutet
Château Coutet
Château Coutet is a Premier Cru Classé sweet wine from the Sauternes-Barsac appellation located in Barsac, in the southern part of France’s Bordeaux vineyards...
.
It is a wine characteristically known as better when young, though in its greatest years at the height of finesse. The vintages 1929, 1947 and 1949 were described by Alexis Lichine
Alexis Lichine
Alexis Lichine was a Russian wine writer and entrepreneur. He played a key role in promoting varietal labelling of wine, was a masterful salesman of wine, and owned Château Prieuré-Lichine and a share of Château Lascombes in the Médoc. He was married to actress Arlene Dahl from 1964 to...
to surpass Château d'Yquem
Château d'Yquem
Château d'Yquem is a Premier Cru Supérieur wine from the Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the Bordeaux vineyards known as Graves. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Château d'Yquem was the only Sauternes given this rating, indicating its perceived superiority...
as "lighter, with less vinosity and body, yet miraculously subtle."
Château Climens also produces a second wine
Second wine
Second wine is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from cuvee not selected for use in the Grand vin or first label...
named Cypres de Climens.
History
The name Climens, appeared for the first time on a contract dated 1547, the name in the local dialect meaning "unfertile, poor land". The Roborel family were responsible for expanding the estate, initiating viticultureViticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
in the 17th century, and oversaw the production of both white and red wine.
In 1855, Monsieur Henri Gounouilhou bought the property, in the year Climens was classified a Premier Cru. It remained the property of the Gounouilhou family until Lucien Lurton of Château Brane-Cantenac
Château Brane-Cantenac
Château Brane-Cantenac is a winery in the Margaux appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855....
bought the estate in 1971, along with Château Doisy-Dubroca
Château Doisy-Dubroca
Château Doisy-Dubroca is a sweet white wine, ranked as Second Cru Classé , in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Belonging to the Sauternes appellation in Gironde, in the region of Graves, the winery is located in the commune of Barsac, Gironde.-External links:*...
. It has been run by his daughter, Bérénice Lurton, since 1992.
Production
The grape variety is 100% SémillonSémillon
Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...
, which is said to suit the vineyard's chalky soil. The vineyard area extends 29 hectares or 70 acres, with an average production of 3,000 cases per year.