Climens 2007

The 2007 Climens has a lighter nose than other vintages, very well defined, airy but gaining intensity with time in the glass. Yellow plum, hints of jasmine emerge with time. The palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, taut and minerally, lively with a tensile, sapid finish that keeps you coming back for more. This is laden with potential and will repay extended cellaring - if you can resist temptation. Tasted at the Climens vertical at the château in April 2022. (Drink between 2026-2070)

As usual, no finished blend of this wine was available for tasting. Instead we tasted five different possible ingredients, and this year a first possible pre-assemblage blend - one of 39 pre-assemblages. It is truly sobering to think how much wine must be expectorated before Bérénice Lurton and her team are happy to bottle a final blend. The most thrilling was a sample picked on 17 Oct as part of the relatively big second trie, or passage through the vineyard. It had a heady aroma of hazelnuts and was amazingly substantial in terms of both body and richness, the keynote of the best 2007 Sauternes. A slightly dry finish (something evident on the Yquem 2007 too) but so fascinating in terms of its array of elements. The wines from the first trie were much lighter and simpler but had great clarity and freshness while the third trie’s produce seemed lighter than the second too. But overall, this should be a very promising year for Climens

As one does I tasted at least nine different casks picked on different days and at different times. Each in their own way was very exciting, all had wonderful fragrance some had power and some had more racy elegance. I finished up with what Bérénice felt might be a possible blend although it is in her view too early to finalise. It was lovely; the complexity of candied peel and rich apricot underpinned by fragrant lemon a wine with great length of flavour. 2016-2035.

Bérénice Lurton refuses to submit a sample of a wine which is not the final blend, so I tasted nine different elements: two from the first trie or selection, three from the second trie, one third trie, one mixed assemblage from the first and third pickings, and one from the first and fourth. The impression was of an incredible mosaic of contrasting yet complementary elements, combining great concentration (mostly wonderfully perfumed) with beautifully unctuous textures and complex fruit flavours, often very honeyed; all marked by a glorious freshness and purity. Residual sugar levels are around 150g at present. It is hard to imagine much better wine than this. 5 stars.

The 2007 vintage produced an absolutely classic crop of Sauternes and Barsac and the ’07 Climens is a stellar young wine. Here, we have all of the racy precision and chalky undertow that makes Climens so popular, as the wine jumps from the glass in a lovely and quite complex constellation of apricot, coconut, tangerine, honey, chalky soil tones, citrus zest and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure, with lovely harmony and backend energy, laser-like focus and a very long, nascently complex and vibrant finish. A great vintage of Climens in the making. (Drink between 2020-2075)