Chateau Climens 2005
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Climens is drinking nicely, wafting from the glass with aromas of orange oil, dried apricot and marmalade mingled with hints of honeycomb and petrol. Full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with an enveloping core of fruit, ripe acids and a seamless, textural profile, it's rich and dramatic, missing just a little cut to rank as profound—even if it nonetheless ranks as one of the finest sweet wines of the vintage in Bordeaux.
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Wine Spectator
Toffee, dried lemon rind and tropical fruit on the nose. Full-bodied and very sweet, with a dense palate of candied fruit and a long, sweet finish. Very concentrated. The botrytis spice creeps up on the finish. Best after 2013.
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Wine & Spirits
The deep color implies how richly draped this wine is in botrytis; its exotic scents and complex flavors bear the stamp as well. Honey, more honey and a little hazelnut in the end. Voluptuous now, this wine's complexity will gain prominence with age.
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Wine Enthusiast
Intensely rich, very perfumed wine, full of apples and honey flavors. There is also fresh fruit, but the richness dominates, showing some dry botrytis flavors to finish.
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- Vinous
The exceptionally distinguished Château Climens is classified as a 1er Cru Classé and known as the "Lord of Barsac". Its history dates back to the 16th century, and only five families have owned the estate from its origins. This is a rare occurrence which explains why its surface area in a continuous single vineyard has practically remained unchanged since the date of its creation. In 1971, Lucien Lurton, already the owner of several famous classified growths in the Medoc, was won over by the finesse of the Climens wines and acquired the château. It was in 1992 that his daughter Bérénice Lurton took over the château’s destiny. Since then, it is with enthusiasm and determination that she takes great care in perpetuating the precious magic of Château Climens, ensuring that this legendary growth shines with evermore brilliance and grace.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
Sweet and unctuous but delightfully charming, the finest Sauternes typically express flavors of exotic dried tropical fruit, candied apricot, dried citrus peel, honey or ginger and a zesty beam of acidity.
Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle are the grapes of Sauternes. But Sémillon's susceptibility to the requisite noble rot makes it the main variety and contributor to what makes Sauternes so unique. As a result, most Sauternes estates are planted to about 80% Sémillon. Sauvignon is prized for its balancing acidity and Muscadelle adds aromatic complexity to the blend with Sémillon.
Botrytis cinerea or “noble rot” is a fungus that grows on grapes only in specific conditions and its onset is crucial to the development of the most stunning of sweet wines.
In the fall, evening mists develop along the Garonne River, and settle into the small Sauternes district, creeping into the vineyards and sitting low until late morning. The next day, the sun has a chance to burn the moisture away, drying the grapes and concentrating their sugars and phenolic qualities. What distinguishes a fine Sauternes from a normal one is the producer’s willingness to wait and tend to the delicate botrytis-infected grapes through the end of the season.