1990 Château Climens
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Tasting notes
The 1990 Climens has a very elegant bouquet, beautifully defined with marmalade, quince and sugar barley that gains intensity with aeration. The palate is very well balanced with real intensity, stem ginger and lemongrass, a fine bead of acidity. Poised and penetrating with a long but not overdone finish, this 1990 Climens is à point . Superb. Tasted at the Climens vertical at the château in April 2022.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
I have always loved the 1990 Climens. A little deeper in colour than I remember, it has a gorgeous bouquet of marmalade, Manuka honey, quince and a touch of sugar barley, all finely detailed. The palate is unctuous on the entry with lower acidity than its peers, sumptuous in style with a thickly-textured, ravishing finish that manages to maintain harmony and freshness. This is a Climens that you can lose yourself in. Courtesy of a bottle proffered by Bill Blatch at Trinity restaurant in London.
Actually at first seems lighter and less intense than the 1991 in terms of weight, although it has less acid. Lively nose with lots of sweetness and richness. (JR)
TA 4.4 g/l (sulphuric), RS 140g/l. Massive (!) yield of 23 hl/ha. Medium deep orangey gold. Very long fermentation (10 weeks) because of the richness of the musts. Excellent harvest conditions and huge development of botrytis. Extreme complexity on the nose, barley sugar, spiced orange and apricot, rich but very zesty. Stunning concentration and depth of flavour but with great acidity to balance . Gloriously mouthfilling and generous but beautifully balanced. (JH)
About the producer
Château Climens is one of Sauternes-Barsac’s leading producers of sweet wine. Classified as a Premier Cru or First Growth in 1855 it sits alongside just 10 other Premier Cru estates in Sauternes, only bettered by Ch. d’Yquem, which was granted its own elite classification of Premier Cru Supérieur.