WA - Cropped at ten hectoliters per hectare, this represents the first certified organic Chateau Climens. As usual, I have to conjecture how the final blend will manifest itself, a task becoming easier now that I have tasted through individual lots for several years. Clearly, the first tries contain zesty citrus fruit with crisp acidity and strong botrytis character, the second tries lending the structure and the Barsac/Climens character. I noticed a "marine" influence on the final tries picked on October 21 and 23, although here there is a slight attenuation. Putting all this together, I foresee an assured, perhaps slightly lighter but tensile Climens, with the more heavily botrytized fruit delivered toward the end. Quality is certainly on par with a very good vintage, the most impressive lots destined to form major components of the final blend. This ought to be a classic Climens.

"We started the harvest on the 27th of September, which was not as late as we thought," Berenice Lurton told me. "The ripeness was quite late, but botrytis arrived quickly and we were prepared. We were incredibly lucky, because we finished the first picking under good conditions on the 3rd of October at 7.00pm, the night when a lot of rain fell at Climens. The weather became fresh and humid, so botrytis was everywhere, but the problem was that it was not concentrated, so on Friday, the 18th of October, we inspected the vineyard and decided we could not pick. We were quite anxious, because rain was predicted. But exactly like 2012, we had a perfect weekend with a lot of wind on Saturday and a perfect Sunday that was enough to concentrate the berries on the first plots. We finished in a few days on Thursday at midday and then it started raining again in the afternoon. So the windows for us were amazingly small.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate #212 Apr 2014 (WA: 94-96/100)
 
PRODUCT OF FRANCE