2003 Château Climens
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2003 Climens is missing a bit of complexity on the nose, just a little Alsace-like with age, a touch of petrol and quince. The palate is tangy on the entry, fine acidity considering the vintage, yet it lacks complexity and mineralité on the finish. I am not an ardent admirer of this vintage in Sauternes and feel that this is shown up by the superior vintages either side. Tasted at the Climens vertical at the château in April 2022.
Critic scores
Neal Martin
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Aromas of dried mushroom. Full body, bright acidity and a volatile undertone. Some spice. Not showing right at first but then opens into a pretty fresh and spice Sauternes.
Ex-chateau bottle tasted blind in Sauternes. The Climens ’03 has always been a capricious Barsac: brilliant out of barrel but found wanting under vertical conditions. Here, amidst a blind horizontal, it fell somewhere between the two! This bottle offers a sweet ripe bouquet of candied orange peel, dried honey and fig that is missing a little delineation (as discerned on previous bottles.) The palate is ripe and rounded on the entry with a touch of spice that lends it a pleasant edginess. Mango and pineapple form the middle whilst the finish is composed and focused with commendable precision and citric acidity. To repeat comments I have made before, this is a decent Climens, but Berenice Lurton has made far superior wines in recent years. Tasted April 2013.
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.