Château Climens: Singular Sémillon
How many “old world” wine regions are known for truly exceptional, world-class single-varietal Sémillon wines? Off the top of my head, it’s difficult to name even one, as the most prominent Old World wine regions that come to mind are Bordeaux and Southwest France.
But even there, most of the Sémillon wines are blended with another grape, such as Sauvignon Blanc and/or Muscadelle. The only wine region known for single-varietal Sémillon that truly jumps out at me is Hunter Valley in Australia.
Sémillon is apparently France’s fourth most planted white grape, but it usually plays a supporting role, being appreciated for its contribution to adding a waxy body and fullness to Bordeaux Blanc when blended with Sauvignon Blanc and adding its signature honey notes. It is rarely seen as a true mega-star in its own right. Even in white Bordeaux, the grape is almost always blended with Sauvignon Blanc and/or Muscadelle.
Against this backdrop, Château Climens in the village of Barsac in the region of Graves in Bordeaux stands out for its reputation for making outstanding single-varietal Sémillon wines. Barsac is one of the five villages in the region of Sauternes, which is famous for its sweet wines made from the “noble rot” botrytis-infected grapes. In recognition of its exceptional terroir, Barsac is the only village of the Sauternes region that is permitted to label its wine with its name instead of the name, Sauternes.
In line with history and the regional practice in Sauternes and Barsac, Château Climens has been producing “noble rot” dessert wines for over 100 years and was one of the 11 châteaux awarded the Premier Cru (First Growth) classification aduring the 1855 Classification of Sauternes and Barsac. With an eye toward trends embracing dry white wines, since the 2018 vintage, the château has steadily been increasing its dry white wine production. When the château changed ownership and management in June 2022, the château has since began a much more intentional and targeted push toward producing dry Sémillon wines.
Here are five things to know about the château making singular Sémillon in Barsac:
1. Château Climens currently produces 100% Sémillon wines.
In 1973, the former owner, Lucien Lurton had the last remaining hectare of Sauvignon Blanc left in the estate pulled out in a full embrace of the Sémillon grape. From their 30 hectare estate, they have approximately the same area under vine dedicated to their dry wines and sweet wines. However, due to the fact that botrytis causes grapes to lose water volume and become concentrated while hanging on the vines, the yields for their sweet wines are much lower than the yields for their dry wines, as the château produces up to 60,000 bottles per year of their dry wines, but only 15,000 bottles per year of their sweet wines.
2. Château Climens has a long history dating back to 1547 and has only had five separate owners since it was owned by the Roborel de Climens family.
Since 1802, the château has been owned by the Binaud family, the Lacosts, the Gounouilhou family, the Lurtons and, as of June 2022, the current owners, the Moitrys. The most recent owner and current partial stakeholder in the estate, Berenice Lurton, was steadfast about preserving purity and finesse in the wines at a time when bigger and bolder wines were more popular. In pursuit of these goals, Berenice Lurton started experimenting with biodynamic viticulture, and under her guidance, the estate became the first Premier Cru estate from the 1855 classification to switch its entire production to biodynamic methods. It achieved their first biodynamic certification in 2014 under Biodyvin and then under Demeter in 2016. The château is one of the few wineries in Bordeaux with its own “tisanerie,” a drying room for the biodynamic preparations that are used in their vineyards. According to Jerome Moitry, one of the current owners and the General Manager of Château Climens, the style of Climens is purity and freshness, and the Moitrys intend to continue that commitment into the future in continuity with biodynamic methods.
3. Where Château d’Yquem, the other famed Sauternes estate, is known for its power and depth, the style of Climens is rooted in its elegance and finesse.
Sémillon is often portrayed as contributing more body than acidity to wine, and single-varietal Sémillon wines tend to have a noticeable roundness to them. However, the style of Climens is rooted in elegance and finesse over breadth. According to Jerome Moitry, “We are always chasing verticality at Château Climens.” With this goal in mind, the château avoids using new oak with their dry wines and instead, uses cement for vinifying and ageing their dry Petite Lily and Asphodele wines. For the 2022 vintage of their dry Lilium wine, the estate started experimenting with glass WineGlobes with the goal of preserving the freshness and natural expression of the Sémillon grape. According to Moitry, at Climens, they are always experimenting with technology to improve the winemaking, but the signature style of linear elegance will never change, regardless of whether the trends in taste change.
4. Climens’ dedication to Sémillon is directly linked to the terroir.
Sémillon is generally viewed as a white grape contributing body with a low to medium amount of acidity. However, the Château Climens signature style is minerality and freshness, and the owners of the château have pointed to the terroir as one of the main causes for this style. Unusual for Bordeaux, the vineyards of Château Climens sit on a bedrock of limestone covered by a thin layer of iron-rich clay and sand, and he limestone has been thought to contribute to the lifted acidity of the Climens Sémillon wines.
This characteristic acidity and linearity is the reason that, while noble rot Bordeaux wines are typically considered dessert wines, the sweet wines of Château Climens actually seem to pair quite well with savory dishes. At a recent dinner of Château Climens at Four Twenty Five by Jean-Georges in New York City, we tasted the sweet botrytised wines with the steamed black bass course, which came with mushrooms and a spiced broth, which was followed by the seared wagyu beef tenderloin course, and we discovered that the pairings worked remarkably well, with the sweetness of the wine acting as a complementary layer of flavor, akin to a sweet glaze, to the savory dishes.
5. While, for many Bordeaux château, dry white wines are more of a second wine or a supplement to the château’s main portfolio, Climens makes dry white wine a priority.
In 2022, when the Moitrys took ownership of the estate, they decided to stop producing the Climens “second” sweet wine, Cyprès, and to devote their resources toward producing more dry white wines. As of today, they release three 100% dry wines. Petite Lily, their most recent release from the 2022 vintage, is the château’s introductory wine sourced from young vines (1998 to 2014). Asphodele was the first dry white wine in the history of Château Climens and is made with whole bunch pressing and low-temperature fermentation to preserve the primary white flowers and fruit notes. Finally, Lillium, named for the Madonna lily (the white lily), represents the prestige dry white wine of the château. Aged in glass WineGlobes and produced from select batches from the estate, this limited production wine (only 2,900 bottles for the 2022 vintage) reveals a concentrated and textured, yet delicate, expression of the Sémillon grown in this estate. Each of these dry white wines was created to reveal a different expression of Sémillon and named after the lily flower to evoke the purity of their Sémillon.
